A media-sparked audit of a Republican Federal Election Commission member came up empty-handed, clearing him of ethics violations but not after taking several shots for his lack of cooperation in the investigation.
The FEC’s inspector general found that Commissioner James “Trey” Trainor III violated no ethics rules after questions were raised in the media about one of his public appearances identified as a “Trump Elections Team” member.
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Of the four potential violations it probed involving the Republican elections lawyer appointed by former President Donald Trump, the IG found zero problems, prompting Trainor to criticize the investigation as a waste of money and a political witch hunt.
At issue was a report that Trainor, a Texas lawyer, “appeared” at a November 2021 Denton County, Texas Republic event that promoted him as a being on the “Trump Elections Team.”
While there are rules about government officials participating in events for former clients or employers for one to two years, the event was five years after the 2016 election.
The audit also concluded that Trainor did not make an appearance of an ethics violation by speaking to the Republican group, noting that FEC commissioners are partisans and are also urged to speak in public.
“It is understandable that outside observers might question his participation in an event hosted by a political party. However, commissioners are appointed, in part, on the basis of partisan affiliation and frequently speak in public,” the four-page audit said.
It added, “In this instance, knowledge of the relevant facts (i.e., that the misidentification was an error, that Commissioner Trainor was not responsible for the error, and that Commissioner Trainor did not speak on behalf of the Trump campaign at the event) undermines any appearance of impropriety.”
While the auditors found no ethics or recusal violations, it was clear that they were unhappy that Trainor did not cooperate with the investigation and criticized him repeatedly in their report. They even suggested that the lack of cooperation undermined the authority of their conclusion.
“His lack of participation impeded the OIG’s efforts to gather relevant evidence and resulted in uncertainty concerning the conclusions in this investigation,” the IG said.
Trainor hit at the investigation, telling Secrets that he didn’t physically appear at the Texas event, a detail not included in the IG report. He said he appeared via Zoom.
“I’m outraged at the enormous waste of time and taxpayer money that was wasted on this matter,” Trainor said.
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“I’m amazed that an obscure news story caused all of this commotion,” he said of the initial report in Business Insider.
“This is the type of ‘gotcha’ game that the American people have grown to loathe about Washington, D.C. The full apparatus of the government was harnessed to investigate a Zoom appearance to a group I have not seen in person,” he added.
