Rep. Kevin Cramer’s use of taxpayer dollars to advance political career requires ethics probe

(BISMARCK, ND) – Today, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL requested the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) investigate Representative Kevin Cramer for using taxpayer-funded Congressional resources to further his potential U.S. Senate campaign.

The OCE is a non-partisan, independent body that oversees allegations of misconduct against members of Congress. Congressman Cramer, who habitually skirts the lines of ethical behavior – including not only routinely paying himself but also his family members and their businesses more than $350,000 over the years from his campaign account – last year voted behind closed doors to gut the OCE and remove Congress from any independent oversight that could hold him accountable for the behavior he’s demonstrated. 
 
By tweeting about campaign polling from his Congressional Twitter account – which is supported by North Dakota taxpayer dollars – Congressman Cramer clearly violated House ethics rules:

“Congressman Cramer has a clear pattern of unethical behavior – ranging from paying himself to essentially running a family business through his campaign committee – but now he’s taken his swampy behavior to a whole new level by using taxpayer dollars to boost his own campaign,” said Democratic-NPL executive director Scott McNeil. “To hold Congressman Cramer accountable for his misuse of taxpayer dollars, the non-partisan, independent Office of Congressional Ethics needs to get to the bottom of just how excessively Congressman Cramer disrespected hard-working North Dakota taxpayers by using the Congressional office they fund for his own political gain.”
 
Text of the letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics and legal analysis can be found HERE and below.

Details on Congressman Cramer paying himself and his family more than $350,000 from his political campaign can also be found below.