The U.S. House’s Committee on Ethics is considering a complaint against U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga.
A statement from the committee, released Monday, says it will decide whether to proceed with the case by Oct. 29.
The committee must decide whether to act on a report from the quasi-independent Office of Congressional Ethics, a bipartisan panel that serves as a kind of clearinghouse of potential ethics violations by federal lawmakers. The OCE has forwarded a report to the panel that says there is substantial reason to believe Broun violated ethics rules.
Neither the committee nor the OCE would comment on what Broun is accused of doing.
In a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Broun said, ““I have fully cooperated with the Office of Congressional Ethics and the House Ethics Committee as they have conducted their review and will continue to do so.”
WSB-TV reported in March that Broun, who lost a bid for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate this summer, spent $33,000 of his congressional office budget over the last two years on a specialist in rhetorical skills.
Broun, who will leave office at the end of the year, told WSB a time that the payments to Brett O’Donnell were appropriate under House rules.
It’s unknown if the contract with O’Donnell is the subject of the House probe.
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