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Sen. Ron Johnson accused of ethics violations by watchdog group

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On Wednesday the American Democracy Legal Fund filed a formal complaint against U.S. Senator Ron Johnson over Johnson’s use of his U.S. Senate website – specifically the blog on that site – to attack Russ Feingold, his opponent in Wisconsin’s 2016 U.S. Senate race.

Here’s more about the ADLF’s complaint.

The American Democracy Legal Fund has filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics against Senator Ron Johnson for violating 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a) and the Senate Internet Policy.

On June 19, 2015, Senator Johnson’s official Senate website posted an article, which was in fact a partisan political attack and response to Senator Russ Feingold. After quoting Senator Feingold as saying that Senator Johnson is “opposed to all government-assisted student loans” the bulk of the article is aimed at rebutting Senator Feingold.

Senator Johnson blatantly used his official Senate website to attack a political opponent in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a) and the Senate Internet Policy. An article which quotes a political opponent, mentions that opponent by name multiple times, and which accuses that political opponent of having “a hard time being honest about what words mean” cannot reasonably be construed as anything but a partisan political attack and is no way related to Senator Johnson’s official duties or the official duties of the Senate.

At issue is a June 19, 2015 blog post on his official United States Senate website in which Sen. Johnson specifically attacked Russ Feingold. While the blog post has been deleted from Sen. Johnson’s U.S. Senate website, here’s a snippet from the post.

“Had Senator Feingold said that Senator Johnson has consistently pointed out that Washington policy on college assistance has serious negative unintended consequences, then he would have been right. Senator Johnson isn’t the first to say so: The U.S. secretary of education was making the case in the 1980s in the New York Times, for example, that increases in financial aid may enable colleges to raise tuition faster on the understanding that federal subsidies will help cushion the increase.”

If you’d like, you can read a copy of the ADLF’s complaint HERE.


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