WASHINGTON – The independent office that reviews allegations against House members has found probable cause that Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas converted campaign funds to personal use, triggering an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, a new disclosure revealed Friday. -fair.
The recommendation and full report from the Office of Congressional Ethics were released Friday, as required by law. House Ethics Committee leaders emphasized that disclosure alone does not mean a violation occurred and emphasized that the investigation into Nehls is ongoing. Nehls’ lawyer told the committee that the lawmaker did not profit from the deal that raised red flags with the ethics office.
Nehls, a second-term Republican lawmaker, was county sheriff for eight years before serving in the House. He is a strong supporter of Donald Trump and attended this year’s State of the Union address wearing a T-shirt decorated with Trump’s photo.
The Office of Congressional Ethics recommended the committee’s investigation in December by a vote of 6-0.
The office sought to determine whether Nehls’ campaign paid a company registered in the congressman’s name for reasons other than legitimate campaign purposes.
The ethics office said Nehls’ campaign committee made more than $25,000 in rent payments since late 2019 to an entity known as Liberty 1776, LLC, and that a review of state records shows he was the registered agent of the company.
The report notes that campaigns cannot spend money for “personal use” and that the prohibition includes purchasing or renting a member’s own services. The office said Nehls refused to cooperate with the investigation, and because of this lack of cooperation, no witnesses could confirm that the payments made to Liberty 1776 were for legitimate campaign purposes.
The report also stated that Nehls failed to disclose any income derived from Liberty 1776 on its financial disclosure forms required for members and applicants.
An attorney representing Nehls disputed the lack of cooperation with the Office of Congressional Ethics. Instead, the lawyer objected to ambiguously worded requests for information. And the Office of Congressional Ethics never responded to clarify the scope of the review, he said.
Additionally, attorney Jared Najvar said Nehls and several other candidates agreed they should pursue a specific property in Richmond, Texas, as the site for a campaign headquarters and associated activities. He said there was a verbal contract in which Liberty 1776 would pay rent and make some improvements to the property. He said Liberty 1776 raised about $52,872 and spent that amount on the property.
“The various rent payments made by Nehls for Congress to Liberty 1776 from 2019 to 2022 were therefore legitimate rent payments for campaign office use,” Najvar wrote to the Ethics Committee in a January letter.
The lawyer also said that Nehls’ financial disclosure form would be amended to include his affiliation with Liberty 1776 and that the failure to include it was an oversight brought to the congressman’s attention by the OCE appointment.
The Office of Congressional Ethics is often the first to review alleged violations of law or House rules, but it is the 10 lawmakers on the House Ethics Committee who make the final decision about whether violations have occurred. Nehls said he will cooperate with the House panel’s investigation.
