Rep. Kenny Marchant Hit With Ethics Complaint That Alleges Impermissible Staffer Contributions

WASHINGTON — An ethics complaint has been filed against Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, over what may be nearly 20 impermissible reimbursements made over the years from his campaign account to some of his House staffers for expenditures they made.At issue isn't what the few thousand dollars in reimbursements bought: food, office supplies and other legitimate campaign-related expenditures.The complaint, obtained by The Dallas Morning News, instead zeroes in on rules by the Federal Election Commission and the House that classify those reimbursements as contributions. That's problematic because House employees are barred from donating to the campaign of their boss.One further twist is the fact that Marchant is the top Republican on the House Ethics Committee."It's not a huge amount of money, but he should know better," said Pat Pangburn, an Irving resident and longtime Democratic activist, who wrote the complaint this month asking the Office of Congressional Ethics to conduct a formal investigation.Marchant campaign spokesman Keats Norfleet said in a written statement that the congressman "has always advised members facing questions by the Congressional Ethics Office to cooperate to the fullest extent possible, and he plans to do the same."  Continue reading...