House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler may have violated basic ethics rules for United States representatives, a government watchdog group said.
Americans for Public Trust told Fox News it believes a senior staffer for Naddler may be providing legal services for him, which would violate House rules.
“The outside employment restrictions define certain activities for which senior staff (as well as House Members and officers) may not receive any compensation whatsoever,” the House Committee on Ethics states on its website.
“The restrictions prohibit senior staff from, among other things, (1) receiving compensation for practicing any profession that involves a fiduciary relationship, including, for example, law or accounting, and (2) serving for compensation as an officer or director of any entity.”
This could be a problem for Nadler because district director, Robert Gottheim, received money from Nadler while he was a senior staffer between 2019 and 2021.
According to Federal Elections Commission data, Gottheim was paid a total of $81,345.00 between 2019 and 2021 for what was categorized as “legal and political consulting.”
It sounds dangerously similar to “fiduciary services,” for which Nadler is expressly prohibited from compensating Gottheim, according to House ethics rules.
Speaking to Fox News, a representative for Nadler’s campaign denied wrongdoing and said Gottheim “doesn’t practice law in any capacity, including the campaign.”
“He’s a campaign advisor, which doesn’t have any fiduciary responsibility. When the campaign files the quarterly reports the treasurer must choose a category to list his expenditures, so they chose ‘legal & strategic advising.’ He’s a strategic advisor, not a lawyer.”
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Gottheim is listed on the New York City West Side Democrat’s website as the organization’s treasurer, and his bio says he has been working as a Counsel for Nadler for Congress since 1997.
Specifically, it said Gottheim has been “handling all campaign finances & compliance issues with the FEC.” Again, this would be prohibited for a senior staffer.
While Nadler’s campaign paid Gottheim for services from 2003 to 2018, he did not meet the senior staff threshold until 2019, Fox News reported.
APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland slammed Nadler for what she said was a violation of the law.
“Jerry Nadler brags about being the ‘conscience of the House,’ yet he can’t even ensure that his top staffer is in compliance with simple House ethics rules,” Sutherland told Fox News.
“It is absolutely against the law to be compensated for campaign work that involves fiduciary duties, and accordingly, we will look into filing a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics.”
If the allegations against Nadler are true, they would be especially disturbing given his position. As the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Nadler is supposed to uphold justice and fairness for all, especially himself.
In addition, Democratic leaders have frequently praised Nadler for having outstanding character. When she was serving as House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi even called Nadler “the conscience of the House,” Fox News reported.
A full investigation should be launched into Nadler’s finances because Americans deserve to know our political leaders are being held accountable. If he is determined to have broken ethics rules, it would be a massive blow to the Democrats and any remaining credibility they have.
