An ethics watchdog is asking the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA) for potentially violating House ethics rules by accepting money for his legal defense fund from a registered lobbyist.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed an ethics complaint, asking for an investigation into the $5,000 registered lobbyist Catherine Pino contributed to Cardenas’ legal defense fund in 2021.
Cardenas set up his legal defense fund in 2018 when he was sued by a young woman who accused him of molesting and drugging her in 2007 while she was a minor. Ultimately, the lawsuit was dismissed in 2019. Despite the lawsuit being dropped, Cardenas continued to accept contributions years later.
Cardenas’ legal defense fund disbursed more than $148,000 by the time the woman dropped her lawsuit in 2019.
Pino contributed $2,000 to Cardenas’ defense fund in February 2021, then $3,000 in November 2021, two years after the young woman dropped her lawsuit against Cardenas.
As the ethics complaint noted, “Pino is the founder and co-CEO of the lobbying firm D&P Creative Strategies, which is located at the same address as listed on the contribution to Cardenas’ legal defense fund.”
“Pino was listed on numerous lobbying disclosure reports. During the time period that Pino made these contributions, she designated herself as a lobbyist (on both her mid-year lobbying contribution report signed on July 20, 2021 and her year end report signed on Jan. 28, 2022),” the complaint added. “Pino continues to be listed as a lobbyist today.”
However, House ethics rules prevent members of Congress from accepting contributions to their defense funds from registered lobbyists.
As the complaint noted:
The fund may not accept contributions greater than $5,000 per year from an individual or organization and cannot accept any contributions from a registered lobbyist. A legal expense fund shall be terminated at the earlier of either the fulfillment of the legal expense funds’ purpose, the end of the time period for which the legal expense fund was established, or at the Committee’s direction for non-compliance with legal expense fund regulations.
FACT executive director Kendra Arnold said:
A legal defense fund is barred from accepting contributions from a registered lobbyist, but in this case it appears that Rep. Cardenas’ legal defense fund did just that. Cardenas’ legal defense fund accepted Catherine Pino’s contributions the same time she designated herself as a lobbyist. We urge the Board to immediately investigate whether Representative Cardenas, through his legal defense fund, accepted a contribution from a registered lobbyist in violation of House Ethics rules.
Cardenas’ legal defense fund did not return the $5,000 in contributions from Pino, FACT’s complaint noted.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.