Evidence shows Rep. Elaine Luria violated federal law requiring House Members to disclose association with organizations and finances The non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), has requested the Office of Congressional Ethics immediately investigate Rep. Elaine Luria for failing to disclose past corporate positions on her Financial Disclosure Statements. Under Federal law, House candidates or Members must report all non-federal positions held with any organization, even if uncompensated. According to House ethics guidelines, Candidates and Members must: “report positions held at any time during the reporting period up to the date of filing. First-year candidates and new employee filers must report positions held at any time during the current calendar year up to the date of filing, plus the two prior calendar years. If you no longer hold the position, you may wish to indicate the fact parenthetically, but you still must report the position.” Contrary to this law, it appears Rep. Luria failed to disclose her position as an officer and director of a corporation. According to past media reports and public documents filed with the Commonwealth of Virginia, Rep. Luria served as the President (and was an officer and director) of Tidewater Montessori High School, Inc. from 2015 to 2019. In 2017, Rep. Luria was also named the corporation’s registered agent. It is apparent that she was an officer and director of the corporation and that she should have disclosed this on her past Financial Disclosure Statements. Moreover, Luria’s undisclosed role appears to be inconsistent with her political position on school choice, which raises questions as to whether Luria’s omission was intentional. “This federal law is fundamental and must be enforced. Whether intentional or not, it seems that Rep. Luria failed to properly disclose her corporate position on any of her Congressional Financial Disclosure Statements. Failing to do so is an egregious lack of transparency that erodes public trust and leaves citizens unaware of potential conflicts of interest. I encourage the Office of Congressional Ethics to immediately investigate Rep. Luria and impose the proper sanctions and penalties,” said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of FACT.
A full copy of the Luria complaint can be found by clicking here. FACT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas. For more on FACT, visit: http://www.factdc.org/
###
Comments