During his relatively brief tenure as a political figure, Rep. Ronny Jackson has found himself at the center of multiple controversies. The Texas Republican was, for example, a White House physician who made bizarre public comments about Donald Trump’s health.
The then-president then announced that he wanted Jackson to join his cabinet as the secretary of Veterans Affairs — despite his obvious lack of qualifications — but he faced bipartisan opposition after multiple reports surfaced about Jackson’s alleged pattern of substance abuse, harassing women, and creating a “toxic“ work environment. The White House pulled his nomination soon after.
Two years later, Jackson was elected to Congress, where the revelations continued. In 2021, for example, the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office concluded that Jackson engaged in “inappropriate conduct” while serving as Trump’s doctor, adding that the Republican “drank alcohol, made sexual comments to subordinates, and took the sedative Ambien while working as White House physician.” The watchdog also found that Jackson mistreated subordinates and “disparaged, belittled, bullied and humiliated them.”
In 2022, the Navy demoted Jackson from admiral to captain as a consequence of his misconduct.
Two months after his demotion was made public, the Texas Republican found himself in the middle of an ethics controversy, and as CNBC reported, the investigation into the allegations is now advancing in ways the far-right congressman probably won’t like.
The House Ethics Committee on Monday said it will review a congressional watchdog report finding “substantial reason” to believe U.S. Reps. Ronny Jackson and Wesley Hunt used thousands of dollars of campaign funds for their own personal use. Campaign committees for the two Republican congressmen, both of whom represent districts in Texas, made payments to private social clubs over multiple years, according to separate reports from the independent Office of Congressional Ethics.
As CNBC’s report added, the Office of Congressional Ethics found that Jackson’s campaign committee “spent nearly $12,000 on dues, fees, meals and other expenses related to the Amarillo Club, a dining club, gym and meeting room in Amarillo, Texas, between 2020 and 2024.” That might not sound like a lot of money, but members of Congress are strictly prohibited from using campaign funds for personal expenses. In fact, a 2022 report in Roll Call noted that federal law is quite explicit in prohibiting spending on “country club memberships” and “dues and fees for health clubs or recreational facilities.” What’s more, as former Reps. Duncan Hunter and Jesse Jackson can attest, these stories can sometimes metastasize in highly consequential ways. Both Jackson and Hunt have denied wrongdoing, though the Office of Congressional Ethics noted that Jackson did not cooperate with its inquiry. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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