Hawaii Democrat Rep. Kai Kahele, who lost in his state’s governor race, may have “misused official resources for campaign or political purposes,” according to a report from the Office of Congressional Ethics.
The Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the House Ethics Committee further review the allegations after there is “substantial reason” that the congressman “misused official resources for campaign or political purposes or used campaign funds to defray official expenses, then he may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law.”
The ethics report explained:
The Board recommends that the Committee further review the above allegation concerning Rep. Kahele because there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Kahele’s campaign social media accounts may have posted videos and photos that were photographed or filmed from official House buildings, rooms, and offices, used official graphics and social media posts, shared official communications, or promoted official events. [Emphasis added.]
The report was referring to various pictures and videos posted on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts that appear to be personal or campaign-oriented accounts rather than his official accounts maintained by taxpayer-funded employees.
One of the tweets showed Kahele pushing a green light on a panel used in the House chamber to vote on January 13, 2021. The congressman said he was proud to vote for the impeachment of former President Donald Trump.
“On just my 11th day as Hawaii’s newest member of Congress, I have voted YEA to impeach the President of the United States,” Kahele wrote. “He must be held accountable for inciting violent & deadly insurrection on our democracy & our nations capitol. We must remove him from office.”
On just my 11th day as Hawaii’s newest member of Congress I have voted YEA to impeach the President of the United States.
He must be held accountable for inciting violent & deadly insurrection on our democracy & our nations capitol.
We must remove him from office. pic.twitter.com/haxzMPUNE4
— Kai Kahele (@kaikahele) January 13, 2021
This instance, as the report noted, goes against House rules, which prohibit members from using any footage of floor activities “for any partisan political purpose.” The report added:
- The OCE found that the scale of the misuse and the scope of Rep. Kahele’s disregard for creating a bright line separation on social media between campaign purposes and official resources was unique and disproportionate compared to other Members of Congress. Even if Rep. Kahele believed that the accounts were personal in nature, the campaign nature of the social media accounts was unmistakable necessitating safeguards against misuse.
- In his interview with the OCE, Rep. Kahele displayed a lack of familiarity with the rules concerning misuse of official resources for political purposes, despite asserting that he had received the relevant training. Moreover, Rep. Kahele failed to provide the OCE with a complete production related to a series of problematic social media posts, in spite of repeated efforts by the OCE to work with Rep. Kahele and his staff on identifying the missing material. [Emphasis added.]
Roll Call noted that even though the congressman may have violated House ethics rules, the committee only has jurisdiction over sitting members. Kahele will not be returning after early January when the next class of lawmakers is sworn in to Congress.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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