The House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it is extending its review of Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Renacci, following complaints accusing him of using official congressional resources to promote his political campaigns.
The committee did not disclose details of the investigation, but said the matter was referred to the committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics in August.
Earlier this year, the Ohio Democratic Party filed an ethics complaint with the office, according to the Columbus Dispatch. David Pepper, the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, submitted a five-page complaint to the office earlier this year, the Dispatch reported, and accused Renacci of using his congressional website and official House Twitter account to promote his political campaigns, among other complaints.
Renacci spokeswoman Kelsey Knight told CNN in a statement, “As was reported last summer, the Ohio Democratic Party, which has falsely and repeatedly accused Jim Renacci of everything short of the Lincoln assassination, filed a baseless ethics complaint regarding social media posts in August.”
Renacci was elected in 2010 to represent Ohio’s 16th Congressional District and ran for governor of Ohio before dropping out and pivoting to launch a Senate bid in the 2018 election cycle. He was defeated by incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.
“Since that time our office has made clear that it would work closely with ethics officials to set the record straight on the Ohio Democratic Party’s latest attempt to deceive the public and desperately trash Jim Renacci’s record in public service,” Knight said.
The committee noted in the statement released Monday that “the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee.”
