Exclusive: Watchdog Will File Ethics Complaint Accusing Dem Rep. Jimmy Gomez of Potentially Abusing Official House Resources

An ethics watchdog will ask the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate Rep. Jimmy Gomez’s (D-CA) “personal” social media account to see if it is violating House rules and abusing official resources for political purposes, Breitbart News has learned.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) will file an ethics complaint on Monday with the ethics office, asking for an investigation into Gomez’s use of Twitter. The biography portion of his Twitter account states that it is the “PERSONAL ACCT” for the “Congressman for Los Angeles” and links directly to his campaign website.

In fact, the complaint noted that the Twitter account, which is political due to it being a “personal” account, makes posts that use official government resources, which has the potential to violate the ethics rules ultimately.

FACT clarified even though Gomez describes it as a “personal” account, “personal and political account[s] are treated the same” in this matter.

FACT’s complaint states that Gomez has used the account to make political posts, like telling people to vote for Christy Smith, a Democrat who ran and lost against Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) three times. However, it also notes that on the same account, the congressman has made several posts that use official government resources, including pictures of the House floor and interviews in his House office.

FACT explained the Federal laws and House ethics rules that require there to be a strict divide between campaign and official acts, such as members being “prohibited from using official resources for campaign purposes” and members being “prohibited from using campaign funds for official purposes.”

“The laws at issue, in this case, are important because not only do they protect taxpayer-funded resources from abuse, they also protect the integrity of official proceedings,” the complaint added.

Due to these rules, FACT further explained “Gomez’s use of the Twitter account itself and the content posted are both distinct violations of ethics rules” because members are prohibited from posting any type of official content on their campaign social media account.

FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold told Breitbart News that “The Office of Congressional Ethics is responsible for ensuring each Representative fulfills the public trust inherent in the office and that they comply with the House’s ethical standards. Therefore, I urge the Board to immediately investigate whether Representative Gomez used official resources for campaign purposes in violation of the House ethics rules.”

In the last month, the ethics watchdog also filed a complaint against Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for potentially violating federal law and House ethics rules by abusing official resources for political purposes on their account for the Chinese social media app TikTok.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.