Government
U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield To Leave Office Early, Resign From Congress Next Week
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U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield is resigning from office next week, four months before his term ends.
Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (https://kycir.org/series/congressman-ed-whitfield/)
A KyCIR investigation into money, politics and ethics explored the business ties between longtime U.S. Congressman Ed Whitfield, his lobbyist wife, and another well-known lobbyist. For more than a decade, the trio was linked in a financial partnership — a land deal at a luxury resort in West Virginia. Meanwhile, the two lobbyists had clients and employers with business before Whitfield in Congress.
U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield is resigning from office next week, four months before his term ends.
The House Committee on Ethics publicly reprimanded U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield Thursday for violating House rules in connection with his wife’s former lobbying activities on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States.
An examination of Congressman Ed Whitfield’s ties to a failing tech company, which featured his wife as a board member. Whitfield didn’t disclose the relationship in a Congressional hearing and later told reporters his wife had no stock or involvement in the company, when she did.
A congressional ethics subcommittee has been directed to investigate whether U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield violated House rules in connection with his wife’s lobbying work for The Humane Society of the United States.
The pending complaint does not address ethical issues raised earlier this year by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, which found that Whitfield, his wife and another powerful lobbyist had a longstanding financial partnership in property at a West Virginia luxury resort.
Whitfield said his lobbyist wife “most certainly did not convince me” to sponsor or support legislation. He also acknowledged a second ethics complaint against him, the focus of a recent KyCIR report.
A House committee on Friday announced an inquiry into a possible ethics violation by U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky. The statement followed an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics, which concluded there was “substantial reason to believe” that Whitfield had committed one or more ethics violations. The House Committee on Ethics’ brief news release noted that it had reached no conclusion about whether a violation had in fact occurred, and it did not disclose the nature of Whitfield’s alleged misconduct. Its announcement follows reports by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting that showed Whitfield, his wife, and a nationally-known lobbyist had a joint financial interest in residential property at a West Virginia luxury resort, from 2003 through 2013. KyCIR found that Whitfield’s wife — a lobbyist for the Humane Society’s Legislative Fund — and lobbyist Juanita Duggan both advocated for clients that had business before Whitfield in Congress.
Our latest investigation into money, politics and ethics explored the business ties between longtime U.S. Congressman Ed Whitfield, his lobbyist wife, and another well-known lobbyist. For more than a decade, the trio was linked in a financial partnership — a land deal at a luxury resort in West Virginia. Meanwhile, the two lobbyists had clients and employers with business before Whitfield in Congress. The Congressman didn’t respond to our 10 inquiries. His wife, lobbyist Connie Harriman-Whitfield, did.
U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield generally flies under the radar. But his connections and financial ties to a lobbyist have generated unwelcome publicity for him before. Whitfield’s wife, Connie Harriman-Whitfield, is a paid lobbyist for the Humane Society’s Legislative Fund. Last December, Politico explored Congressman Whitfield’s support of controversial animal-welfare legislation promoted by his wife and the Humane Society. The Legislative Fund has donated at least $8,000 to Whitfield since 2011, when his wife began lobbying for it.
U.S. Congressman Ed Whitfield had a longstanding financial relationship with a well-known, national lobbyist whose clients and employers had business before him in Congress.