Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) was hit with an ethics complaint after he used his Senate website to push his reelection campaign.
The government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust wrote in a complaint that Tester’s Senate website published a Feb. 22 news article about his announcement to run for reelection, which Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland said was “rife with campaign rhetoric.”
REPUBLICANS ZEROING IN ON BEST CHALLENGER TO JON TESTER IN KEY SENATE RACE
“The posted article, which focuses almost exclusively on his reelection, includes an interview with Senator Tester himself and is rife with campaign rhetoric,” Sutherland said.
“Topics included in the article range from the amount of campaign cash he has raised for his reelection to political consultants opining on his reelection chances and even includes a history of his previous campaigns and how the GOP primary might impact his ability to be reelected,” she added.
The reposted article is from the Helena Independent Record and included an interview with Tester in which he responded to Republican criticisms.
Sutherland gave four examples of the rhetoric her group took issue with, including “You’ll have to slug it out to get to the starting line to run against what will be a well-funded, well organized and, if history has any indication, well-run campaign by Jon Tester” and “And that’s how you win the elections.”
She went on to say that Tester’s posting of the article reflected a larger problem.
“The Senate has long recognized that a ‘public office is a public trust.’ In adhering to this well-founded principle, it is incumbent upon members of the Senate to ensure that the line between official Senate duties and campaign activity remains clear and unbreeched,” Sutherland said. “By posting a full-on campaign announcement to his official Senate webpage, Senator Jon Tester has failed to meet the high standard expected of the office of a United States Senator, and jeopardized the public trust that the Senate as an institution has pledged to protect.”
“The deployment of hyper-political material on an official Senate webpage is not only clearly at odds with federal law and Senate Ethics’ own provisions, it offends the most basic of public policies—that every constituent in Montana should feel like they can come to their United States Senator should they have an issue with a federal agency. That is hardly the case when the member’s official webpage includes campaign statements from the Montana Democratic Party,” she added.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Sutherland concluded by calling for “immediate” action from the House Ethics Committee.
“How long before Montanans are subjected to partisan fundraising updates on Senator Tester’s official website, disguised as a simple ‘reposting’ of a news article? The need for immediate action by the Select Committee is apparent and welcomed,” she stated. “Americans for Public Trust implores the Senate Select Committee on Ethics—as it is best positioned to investigate and enforce violations of the standards of the Senate—to undertake an immediate investigation to guarantee the public trust, halt any present violations, and move to safeguard against future instances of the use of public office for campaign purposes.”
