HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The House Ethics Committee is investigating Zeeland Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga for alleged misuse of campaign funds.
A congressional report says campaign funds were used for trips for him and his family to places like Park City, Utah, Mackinac Island, and Disney World.
Huizenga says the trips were campaign-related, but the report says investigators are concerned the trips were being used more as vacations, citing their cost and the attendance of his staffers and their respective families.
A statement from Huizenga spokesman Brian Patrick dismissed the report by the bipartisan House Ethics committee as a “false narrative created by the Michigan Democratic Party.”
The testimony is online, with some of the emails and expenses being examined by the House Ethics Committee. Some of the testimony suggests Huizenga’s former campaign member, Ron VanderKolk, didn’t have an expense-reimbursement policy in place or require receipts for expenses. Mr. VanderKolk died in January. Huizenga told the committee VanderKolk‘s responsibilities included properly filling out statements to show Federal Elections Commissions’ compliance.
Other testimony indicates that VanderKolk’s replacement, Paul Kilgore of the Georgia-based PDS Compliance (a firm doing work for 27 House members, two Senators and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp), has instituted policies and practices related to expense reports, and that Huizenga and his staff did not make the weekend trip to Disney this year.
Testimony linked here is from Huizenga’s chief of staff; D.C. deputy; Michigan deputy; district director; campaign chairman (Huizenga’s half-brother Jim Barry); and Rep. Huizenga: https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/Exhibits.pdf
Other documents include emails, receipts, campaign disbursement statements, airline ticket and credit card records — 313 documents were sent to the committee in May, and described by campaign officials as exculpatory — proof that there was no wrongdoing.
That testimony and documentation is online: https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/Exhibits.pdf
The ethics committee’s statement, which includes links to information so far collected, says the gathering of that information and pursuit of further information “does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee.”
The U.S. House Ethics Committee, a bipartisan group, is also investigating alleged campaign finance misuse by several other Representatives: Rashida Tlaib; Ross Spano; Lori Trahan; and, not related to campaign finances, but of alleged personal relationships that may have been improper, Rep. Alcee Hastings and Katie Hill (she has since resigned); and, for alleged securities fraud and conspiracy, Chris Collins. Collins pleaded guilty to related charges and resigned from his seat in September, effective Oct. 1, 2019.
