Kyrsten Sinema accused in ethics complaint of ‘ongoing failure’ to report finances
December 05, 2023 11:21 AM
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) is facing an ethics complaint from a conservative watchdog group over allegations of her “long-standing and ongoing failure to fully complete” financial disclosures.
The complaint, filed by the American Accountability Foundation on Monday, requested that the Senate Select Ethics Committee “immediately open an investigation” into Sinema’s alleged failure to report income, assets, and other details in connection to Dr. Lindsay Buckman, a licensed psychologist in Arizona with whom she reportedly lives as a partner. In 2013, then-House member Sinema allowed Buckman to travel with her on an official trip to Israel, according to AAF, which could have placed the lawmaker in violation of ethics rules.
“Dr. Lindsay Buckman accompanied then-Representative Sinema on the trip and Dr. Buckman’s costs were paid for by the sponsor,” AAF wrote in the complaint, which claimed Sinema let “Dr. Buckman to travel with her because Representative Sinema believed Dr. Buckman was a spouse in all but title.”
“While Senator Sinema appears to believe Dr. Buckman is just like a spouse for the purpose of $7737.15 junkets to Israel funded by outside groups, she does not seem to believe that the spousal designation applies for the purposes of financial disclosures,” the complaint added. “The spousal disclosures on financial disclosure forms are required to disclose and prevent conflicts of interest. The Ethics in Government Act has always understood that conflicts related to holdings of a spouse should be imputed to the spouse who is a member.”
The Ethics in Government Act went into effect in 1978 and is a federal law regulating financial disclosures that aims to thwart conflicts of interests for lawmakers, according to the Justice Department.
Sinema’s apparent move not to report Buckman’s finances is grounds for an ethics investigation, according to AAF.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
AAF’s complaint also noted that Sinema’s financial disclosures list “barely any assets, despite her having held a congressional salary of $174,000 for over a decade,” adding, “Senator Sinema does not disclose a home mortgage or a checking account.” The senator’s finances have come under the spotlight in the past following reporting on her selling clothes and other items on Facebook Marketplace.
“It appears that Senator Sinema is not being completely forthright with the American people and is frustrating their ability to exercise oversight over her family’s conflicts of interest,” according to AAF.
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Sinema has not announced whether she will run for reelection in 2024. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is running for the Arizona senate seat, as is failed 2022 GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
Sinema’s office did not return a request for comment.