[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9961 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9961
To prohibit the use of campaign contributions or legal defense funds to
pay settlements or penalties related to sexual assault, sexual abuse,
and sexual harassment claims, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 27, 2026
Mr. Khanna (for himself and Mrs. Luna) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the use of campaign contributions or legal defense funds to
pay settlements or penalties related to sexual assault, sexual abuse,
and sexual harassment claims, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``No Campaign Funded Cover-Ups Act''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON USE OF CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS WITH RESPECT TO
SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS.
(a) Prohibition on Payment of Legal Fees.--
(1) Prohibition.--A covered individual may not use funds
from a legal expense fund established for the benefit of the
covered individual or contributions to an authorized committee
of the individual to pay a legal fee related to defending the
covered individual against a claim of sexual assault, sexual
abuse, or sexual harassment.
(2) Reimbursement permitted if held not liable.--If a
covered individual is held not liable for such a claim, the
covered individual may be reimbursed from such fund or
committee in an amount equal to the amount of such legal fees
paid by the covered individual.
(b) Prohibition on Payment of Settlements and Judgments.--
(1) Prohibition on use of campaign contributions.--Section
313(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.
30114(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Use for certain legal fees.--For the purposes of
paragraph (1), a contribution or donation shall be considered
to be converted to personal use if the contribution or amount
is used to pay a settlement or court-ordered judgment related
to a claim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or sexual
harassment against the candidate or individual.''.
(2) Prohibition on use of legal expense funds.--A
contribution or other payment to a legal expense fund
established for the benefit of a covered individual may not be
used to pay a settlement or court-ordered judgment related to a
claim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment
against the candidate or individual.
(c) Prohibition on Payments for Certain Private Investigators and
Research.--
(1) Prohibition on use of campaign contributions.--Section
313(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.
30114(b)), as amended by subsection (b), is further amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(4) Use for private investigators and opposition
research.--For the purposes of paragraph (1), a contribution or
donation shall be considered to be converted to personal use if
the contribution or amount is used to pay--
``(A) a private investigator to investigate a
person who has brought a claim of sexual assault,
sexual abuse, or sexual harassment against the
candidate or individual; or
``(B) for research for the purpose of discovering
embarrassing or negative information about a person who
has brought a claim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or
sexual harassment against the candidate or
individual.''.
(2) Prohibition on use of legal expenses.--A contribution
or other payment to a legal expense fund established for the
benefit of a covered individual may not be used to pay--
(A) a private investigator to investigate a person
who has brought a claim of sexual assault, sexual
abuse, or sexual harassment against the candidate or
individual; or
(B) for research for the purpose of discovering
embarrassing or negative information about a person who
has brought a claim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or
sexual harassment against the candidate or individual.
(d) Retroactive Application.--The provisions of this section shall
apply retroactively to any payment occurring after the date that is 2
years prior to the date of the enactment of this Act.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Authorized committee; candidate; contribution; federal
office.--In this section, the terms ``authorized committee'',
``candidate'', ``contribution'', and ``Federal office'' have
the meanings given such terms in section 301 of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101).
(2) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual''
means a candidate for Federal office or an individual who holds
a Federal office.
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR LEGAL EXPENSES.
Section 304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52
U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) for any disbursement for a legal fee, legal service,
or other legal expense--
``(A) the name of the individual or entity
receiving the disbursement;
``(B) the date and amount of the disbursement;
``(C) a brief description of the general nature and
purpose of the legal matter for which the disbursement
was made;
``(D) whether the disbursement was for legal
representation, reimbursement of legal expenses,
settlement of a claim, satisfaction of a judgment, or
another specified purpose; and
``(E) the name of any person whose legal expenses
were paid or reimbursed through the disbursement, if
such person is not the individual or entity receiving
the disbursement.''.
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