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 Nadler 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 $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 choose ‘legal & strategic advising.’ He’s a strategic advisor, not a lawyer.”
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