Independent ethics investigators say former Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Renacci misused official resources for his campaigns for governor in 2017 and U.S. Senate last year.
Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.
(sound from video from Fox and Friends – Jan 12, 2018)
That video is among the Renacci tweets that got Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper to ask the non-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate. The office now says there’s substantial reason to believe that Renacci inappropriately used taxpayer funded resources to take videos and photos inside government buildings to promote his campaigns for governor and U.S. Senator on social media. And the report says he continued to even after he and his staff were questioned about it. But because Renacci is no longer in office, it’s unlikely he’ll be sanctioned. Renacci responded with a statement saying he cooperated fully, though he noted the office isn’t the House Committee on Ethics and that the report doesn’t confirm any misuse. And Renacci says he considers the initial claim frivolous.