Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member Regarding Gregory Hill
Pursuant to Committee Rule 7(d) and 7(g), the Committee on Ethics (Committee) determined on August 1, 2011, to release the following statement:
On May 18, 2011, the Committee received a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) regarding Gregory Hill. The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), conducted a further review of the matter as recommended by OCE. Following the conclusion of the Committee’s further review, the Committee has unanimously voted to release a public Report finding that Mr. Hill did not knowingly violate any provision of the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other standard of conduct with respect to the acceptance of excess outside income. Representative Michael T. McCaul, at his request, did not participate in consideration of or voting on this matter, as Gregory Hill is Chief of Staff to Representative McCaul.
According to the referral from OCE, Mr. Hill received $32,000 in compensation for his work on the McCaul for Congress campaign during 2009. In 2009, the outside earned income limit for House senior staff was $26,550. The Committee’s review of the matter indicated that Mr. Hill did, in fact, receive income in excess of the limit as OCE has alleged, and therefore the Committee did not dismiss the OCE matter. However, based on the Committee’s review of the evidence in this matter, the Committee has found that when Mr. Hill became aware of the violation, he took appropriate and immediate steps to remedy it. Though his initial attempts to remedy the situation were unsuccessful, due to misinformation from the campaign’s financial agents, when he was made aware that the remedy had not been successful, he took further steps, and has now satisfactorily disgorged himself of the excess income. For these reasons, the Committee has determined that no sanctions are warranted.
Accordingly, the Committee will take no further action and considers this matter closed.
Pursuant to Committee Rule 17A(c)(2), the Committee on Ethics hereby publishes the attached Report, which includes OCE’s Report and Findings regarding Gregory Hill and Mr. Hill’s response.