Statement on Committee on Ethics Staffing
Chairman Jo Bonner and Ranking Member Linda T. Sánchez are pleased to announce that the Committee has filled a significant number of remaining staff positions. The Committee has hired six new counsel, including Deborah S. Mayer to be director of investigations, and made four internal appointments, including Carol Dixon to be director of advice and education.
“After months of interviewing, I am excited to finally fill out the Committee team and am confident that our nonpartisan staff will support – with integrity and without bias - the Committee’s important service to each Member, officer and staffer of the House,” Chairman Bonner stated. “These changes will enable the Committee to move forward with its duties.”
“It has been a top priority to fill the many counsel vacancies on the Committee staff as soon as possible. Since we hired an exceptional staff director and chief counsel last month, the Chairman and I have worked extensively with him to identify outstanding candidates to serve on the Committee’s nonpartisan staff,” Ranking Member Sánchez said. “Each of these talented attorneys is uniquely qualified, and I am confident in their ability to help the Committee proceed with its important work.”
Deborah Mayer’s distinguished public service includes three years with the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Public Integrity Section, and five years as a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. She also served as a Navy judge advocate, is currently an officer in the Navy Reserve, and has extensive teaching and training experience. Mayer will oversee the Committee’s investigative responsibilities.
Carol Dixon is a nine-year veteran of the Committee and is the Committee’s longest serving counsel. Her institutional knowledge is unparalleled and her advice is regularly sought out by Members and staff from all corners of the House community. Dixon will oversee the Committee’s responsibilities to provide training and guidance regarding the House Code of Official Conduct and other areas of the Committee’s jurisdiction.
To help fill out the investigations and advice and education teams, the Committee also announces the hiring of the following counsel, who will start over the course of the coming weeks:
Miguel Toruño will join the investigations staff as senior counsel. Toruño most recently served as a senior integrity officer for the Inter-American Development Bank, where he conducted investigations of fraud and corruption related to activities financed by the bank. He began his career as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office for the County of New York under Robert M. Morgenthau.
Robert Eskridge will join the advice and education staff as counsel. Eskridge has served as an assistant attorney general for the state of Ohio for four years.
Patrick McMullen will join the investigations staff as counsel. McMullen has been an associate in the litigation and financial services practice in the Washington, D.C., office of O’Melveny & Myers LLP.
Tamar Nedzar has joined the advice and education staff as counsel. Nedzar has worked for six years for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, where she was acting deputy general counsel.
Christopher Tate will also join the investigative staff as counsel. Tate has been an associate whose practice focused on white collar criminal defense and environmental litigation in the Washington, D.C., office of K&L Gates LLP.
Finally, the Committee has made the following internal appointments: Heather Jones is now a senior counsel in the Committee’s financial disclosure office; Tom Rust is now a senior counsel in advice and education; and Clifford Stoddard is now a senior counsel in investigations.