Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) is facing an ethics referral in the House Ethics Committee, with the congressman claiming it is related to campaign finances.
The House Ethics Committee announced on Tuesday that it decided to “extend the matter” regarding an ethics referral against Nehls. The committee said the referral was transmitted from the Office of Congressional Ethics on Dec. 11, 2023.
The committee declined to comment to the Washington Examiner on details surrounding the referral and said that the “mere fact of a referral or an extension” does not “indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment” on behalf of the ethics committee.
Though the committee did not specify the reason for the referral, Nehls claimed the inquiry centered on his campaign.
“I look forward to assisting the House Committee on Ethics inquiry into my campaign’s finances,” Nehls said in a statement. “My campaign has complied with every Federal Election Commission (FEC) law, and my books are open.”
The Ethics Committee said it will announce any further course of action on or before May 10.
Nehls was the first House Republican to speak in defense of former New York Rep. George Santos, who faced a similar inquiry related to campaign finances. The House eventually voted to expel Santos last year following the release of a scathing ethics report that found “substantial evidence” that Santos had knowingly filed false or incomplete reports to the Federal Election Commission, used campaign funds for personal purposes, and “engaged in knowing and willful violations” in relation to the Ethics in Government Act.
“In this country, I thought everyone was presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” Nehls said in November on the House floor.
Ahead of the vote to expel Santos, the Texas congressman had said the report “looks pretty damaging” but pointed to the GOP’s razor-thin majority as a reason he would “hold off,” per Axios.
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Nehls found himself in hot water earlier this year with his progressive colleagues across the aisle after Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) accused him of invoking a “racist and tired” trope while he was criticizing Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO). The comments from the Texas Republican came on the heels of Bush confirming that she is under investigation by the Department of Justice for alleged misuse of federal security money.
“She doesn’t even support the police. But the idea to pay her thug money to try to help protect her this and that, for what?” Nehls said in January. “Maybe if she wouldn’t be so loud all the time, maybe she wouldn’t be getting threats.”