Democrats have Rep. David Schweikert in their sights at the same time that the Arizona Republican finds himself and his top aide under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
The committee said Thursday that there was enough evidence to suspect an ethics violation by Schweikert and his chief of staff, Oliver Schwab, an announcement that could hamstring the congressman’s political career.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Arizona’s 6th Congressional District to its list of targets in 2018 earlier this May. And before the Ethics Committee even opened their investigations, Democrat frontrunner, Heather Ross, was slamming Schweikert for allowing Schwab to essentially take two salaries. No doubt the allegations will now take on increased significance.
There is plenty of material to pull from. While Schweikert prides himself on his reputation as a fiscal conservative penny-pincher, Schwab has been described by sources as the “Aaron Schock of staffers.” A November investigation by the Washington Examiner found records of lavish spending that reveal serious shortcomings in stewardship of both taxpayer and donor money.
According to Member Reimbursement Account disclosures, Schwab spent more than $5,000 to travel to Arizona during the 2015 Super Bowl. He dropped $381 on meals, $660 for a three-day rental car, and $4,027 for a five-night hotel. Other dubious reimbursements to Schwab include tens of thousands of dollars spent on office supplies and $7,000 spent to send the chief of staff to Harvard for a class in leadership.
Schwab also has a side gig off of Capitol Hill: Chartwell LLC. He runs that consulting firm out of his Alexandria condo. His best client? His boss Schweikert who, according to Federal Election Commission reports, has paid Schwab $137,709 in consulting fees through his various campaign committees. It’s a small operation, he told me last November: “Anytime you see Chartwell, that’s Oliver Schwab.”
And that could land Schwab in hot water. Congressional rules limit outside income of senior level staffers to just $26,955.
Both Schweikert and Schwab maintain innocence of any wrongdoing. The congressman told me in February that the discrepancies were the result of lazy bookkeeping and reimbursements for things like “a cup of coffee.” The staffer told me in November he would be “happy to cut a personal check to the Treasury to help pay down the national debt.”
As the Washington Examiner first reported in March, Schwab paid back the Schweikert campaign more than $50,000 in “erroneous reimbursements.” That came after an official ethics complaint was filed and two weeks before the House Office of Congressional Ethics referred the matter to the Ethics Committee for investigation.
Now the committee has until Nov. 14 to finish its inquiry and to decide its “next course of action.” That means Schweikert will run for re-election with the cloud of an investigation over his head. According to the latest analysis by the Cook Political Report though, the district is “likely Republican.” But re-election to the House might not be the congressman’s only goal.
While Schweikert passed at a chance to run for the seat of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., he could be a competitive candidate to succeed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sometime in the future. Sources inside Schweikert World say that running for Senate as a fiscal conservative was always the goal. Before that happens, the congressman will have to survive the investigation and explain the profligate spending of his chief of staff.
Schweikert and his office did not respond to numerous requests for comment.
