Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics Regarding Representative Ross Spano
Pursuant to Committee Rule 7, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics (Committee) determined on November 14, 2019 to release the following statement:
On August 16, 2019, the Committee received a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) regarding Representative Ross Spano. Pursuant to House Rule XI, clause 3(b)(8)(A) and Committee Rules 17A(b)(1)(A) and 17A(c)(1) the Chairman and Ranking Member jointly decided on September 30, 2019, to extend the Committee’s review of the matter.
The Department of Justice has asked the Committee to defer consideration of this matter and the Committee, following precedent, unanimously voted to defer consideration of this matter at this time. Pursuant to Committee Rule 17A(h)(1), the Committee is making OCE’s Report in this matter public. Under that rule, when the Committee votes to defer in this manner, it must release the Report, but not the Findings, along with a public statement announcing its deferral. At least annually, the Committee will make a public statement if it continues to defer taking action on the matter. The Committee notes that the mere fact of its decision to defer action on this matter, and any mandatory disclosure of that decision and OCE’s Report, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.
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