The Washington, D.C. swamp is alive and well. But they just lost one of their own.
And this corrupt Democrat Senator was exposed by government watchdog.
Donald Trump and other America First conservatives have done their best to drain the swamp in D.C.
Unfortunately, the entire government has been infected with self-serving bureaucrats.
But one of their allies in the U.S. Senate could lose their job after being exposed for corruption.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is facing an ethics complaint from a government watchdog organization after promoting his vulnerable re-election campaign in 2024 on the Senate’s official website.
Americans for Public Trust, a group “dedicated to restoring trust in government by holding politicians and political groups accountable for corrupt and unethical behavior,” plans to file a complaint against Tester on Thursday, accusing him of violating Senate rules that prohibit the use of congressional resources for campaign purposes.
According to the group, Tester violated those restrictions when his office uploaded a news item launching his re-election campaign on his Senate website on February 22.
Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of the government watchdog group, wrote in a letter to committee chair Chris Coons, D-Del., and ranking member James Lankford, R-Okla., that “The posted article, which focuses almost exclusively on his reelection, includes an interview with Senator Tester himself and is rife with campaign rhetoric.”
“Topics included in the article range from the amount of campaign cash he has raised for his reelection to political consultants opining on his reelection chances, and even includes a history of his previous campaigns and how the GOP primary might impact his ability to be reelected,” Sutherland added.
Two of the four examples cited by Sutherland as “politicized text” in the article, which remains on Tester’s website, included, “Tester on the ballot, along with new legislative districts and the still-fresh western U.S. House seat, could mean a strong year for Democrats showing up at the polls…” and “Tester’s campaign donations heading into the 2024 election cycle total $4.5 million, including $1.2 million in donations from political action committees.”
The U.S. Senate Ethics Manual says that it is “inappropriate” to use taxpayer money that is set aside to run congressional offices “to conduct campaign activity.”
Members are also encouraged, according to Sutherland’s lawsuit, “to make every effort to avoid any appearance that they would either provide or deny constituent service based on political affiliation or campaign contributions.”
“The Senate has long recognized that a ‘public office is a public trust.’ In adhering to this well-founded principle, it is incumbent upon members of the Senate to ensure that the line between official Senate duties and campaign activity remains clear and unbreeched,” the complaint stated.
“By posting a full-on campaign announcement to his official Senate webpage, Senator Jon Tester has failed to meet the high standard expected of the office of a United States Senator, and jeopardized the public trust that the Senate as an institution has pledged to protect.”
According to the complaint, the post to Tester’s official Senate webpage is “not only clearly at odds with federal law and Senate Ethics’ own provisions, it offends the most basic of public policies – that every constituent in Montana should feel like they can come to their United States Senator should they have an issue with a federal agency.”
“That is hardly the case when the member’s official webpage includes campaign statements from the Montana Democratic Party,” according to the complaint.
“In a vacuum, the use of official staff time and resources to post campaign material on Senator Tester’s official webpage is clearly violative of the relevant governing provisions. However, it is not just his present conduct that warrants concern, it is what could possibly follow-on should this behavior not be curtailed. How long before Montanans are subjected to partisan fundraising updates on Senator Tester’s official website, disguised as a simple ‘reposting’ of a news article?”
Sutherland stated that in Tester’s case, “need for immediate action by the Select Committee is apparent and welcomed.”
Tester, who was first elected to represent Montana in the Senate in 2007, announced last month that he would run for re-election to a fourth term.
Tester is in what is expected to be one of the toughest Senate races in 2024, as Republicans try to regain control of the U.S. Senate. To start his campaign, he took aim at “multi-millionaires” at the 45th annual fundraising dinner for the Montana Democratic Party last week.
According to Federal Election Commission records from 2021, Tester’s net worth fluctuates from $1,768,009 to $6,695,000.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
