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Congressman John Garamendi’s Statement on Proposed Rules Changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics

January 3, 2017

“It is simply wrong that the first action taken by the new Congress is literally to gut the independent ethics office that holds your Representatives accountable. The new rules proposed by Republican leadership would put the independent ethics office under the jurisdiction of the very members it is tasked with investigating. It would prevent the office from receiving anonymous tips, which will discourage whistleblowing. And it would harm transparency by barring the office from disclosing the results of their investigations to the public.”

“It’s often said that sunshine is the best disinfectant. These new rules are designed to keep the public in the dark, and I strongly oppose them.”