[House Report 113-487]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 113-487
_______________________________________________________________________
House Calendar No. 114
IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS
RELATING TO
REPRESENTATIVE DON YOUNG
----------
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
June 20, 2014.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE DON YOUNG
113th Congress
2d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Report
113-487
_______________________________________________________________________
House Calendar No. 114
IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS
RELATING TO
REPRESENTATIVE DON YOUNG
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
June 20, 2014.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
Chairman Ranking Member
CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania PEDRO R. PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico
PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts
TREY GOWDY, South Carolina YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York
SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana TED DEUTCH, Florida
REPORT STAFF
Thomas A. Rust, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Deborah Sue Mayer, Director of Investigations
Jackie M. Barber, Counsel to the Chairman
Daniel J. Taylor, Counsel to the Ranking Member
Sheria A. Clarke, Counsel
Christopher R. Tate, Counsel
Miguel Toruno, Senior Counsel
C. Tucker Carr, Investigative Clerk
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
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House of Representatives,
Committee on Ethics,
Washington, DC, June 20, 2014.
Hon. Karen L. Haas,
Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Ms. Haas: Pursuant to clauses 3(a)(2) and 3(b) of rule
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, we herewith
transmit the attached Report, ``In the Matter of Allegations
Related to Representative Don Young.''
Sincerely,
K. Michael Conaway,
Chairman.
Linda T. Sanchez,
Ranking Member.
C O N T E N T S
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Page
I. INTRODUCTION......................................................1
II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND.............................................2
III.FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS..........................................3
IV. STATEMENT UNDER RULE XIII, CLAUSE 3(c) OF THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES...................................................5
APPENDIX A: CHART OF IMPERMISSIBLE GIFTS......................... 7
APPENDIX B: LETTER OF REPROVAL................................... 9
APPENDIX C: THE INVESTIGATIVE SUBCOMMITTEE'S REPORT.............. 13
APPENDIX D: REPRESENTATIVE YOUNG'S LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE ON
ETHICS......................................................... 380
House Calendar No. 114
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 113-487
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IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE DON YOUNG
_______
June 20, 2014.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Conaway, from the Committee on Ethics,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
In accordance with House Rule XI, clauses 3(a)(2) and 3(b),
the Committee on Ethics (Committee) hereby submits the
following Report to the House of Representatives:
I. INTRODUCTION
On June 18, 2014, the Committee considered the Report of
the Investigative Subcommittee (ISC) in this matter, which the
ISC adopted on Tuesday, April 29, 2014. This Report
memorializes the Committee's conclusions based on the ISC
Report.
The Committee agrees with the findings and conclusions the
ISC reached following its thorough fourteen-month
investigation. Specifically, the Committee finds that, with
respect to fifteen of the twenty-five trips reviewed by the ISC
and certain non-trip related gifts, Representative Young
violated House Rules and other laws, rules, and standards of
conduct by improperly using campaign funds for personal
purposes and by improperly accepting impermissible gifts.
Representative Young also violated House Rules and other laws,
rules, and standards of conduct by failing to report certain
gifts on his Financial Disclosure Statements. The Committee
finds that Representative Young should repay the value of those
improper trips and gifts--$59,063.74--to his campaign and to
the donors of the gifts, respectively, and that Representative
Young should amend his Financial Disclosure Statements to
properly report the gifts he failed to disclose.\1\ The
Committee also finds that Representative Young should be
reproved for his conduct with respect to his improper personal
use of campaign funds, his acceptance of improper gifts, and
his failure to report certain gifts on his Financial Disclosure
Statements.
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\1\The Committee notes that, prior to the issuance of this Report,
Representative Young provided the Committee copies of executed checks
he issued to reimburse his campaign and to reimburse the donors of the
impermissible gifts. A chart of the impermissible gifts and amounts
Representative Young was directed to repay is included with this Report
as Appendix A.
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As to the ten remaining trips reviewed by the ISC, the
Committee finds that based on the evidence, Representative
Young's acceptance of all of the expenses related to those
trips was permissible. The Committee also finds that
Representative Young's acceptance of the remaining non-trip
related gifts was permissible. Finally, the Committee finds
that there was no basis for finding that Representative Young
provided false statements to federal officials.
Accordingly, the Committee hereby adopts the ISC's Report
and has issued a letter of reproval to Representative Young,
both of which we have transmitted as appendices hereto.
II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On April 23, 2010, Representative Young requested the
Committee review certain gifts he had received that the United
States of Department of Justice (DOJ) was reviewing.
Subsequently, on August 17, 2010, DOJ submitted a letter to the
Committee indicating that it had conducted an investigation
regarding the gifts that were the subject of Representative
Young's request, as well as other gifts, and was referring the
matter to the Committee. After approximately two years of
delays caused in part by this Committee, as well as by disputes
with both Representative Young and DOJ regarding discovery of
information in their possession, the Committee chose to move
forward with its own investigation pursuant to Committee Rule
18(a).
Based on the results of the Committee's 18(a)
investigation, it voted unanimously on February 26, 2013, to
impanel an ISC. The ISC's jurisdiction included the authority
to review the matters referred to the Committee by both
Representative Young and DOJ that included 22 trips that
Representative Young, his family, and his staff took to hunting
lodges between 2003 and 2007, as well as several non-trip
gifts. During the course of its investigation, the ISC
discovered three additional similar trips, including trips
taken as early as 2001 as late as 2013.
The ISC met on nine occasions and interviewed 16 witnesses,
including Representative Young's former chief of staff, former
campaign manager, and other relevant staffers, as well as third
parties present during the trips. The ISC issued 20 subpoenas
and reviewed over 220,000 pages of documents which included the
over 150,000 pages provided to the Committee by Representative
Young and DOJ.
On April 29, 2014, the ISC voted to issue its Report,
finding that Representative Young had violated House Rules and
other laws, rules, and standards of conduct with respect to his
use of campaign funds for personal purposes, his acceptance of
improper gifts, and his failure to report certain gifts on his
Financial Disclosure Statements. The ISC did not believe that a
sanction requiring the action of the House of Representatives
was warranted in this case. However, the ISC did recommend that
the Committee issue a letter of reproval to Representative
Young, and that Representative Young be required to repay the
cost of certain trips and gifts that the ISC found were
impermissible under House Rules.\2\ The ISC also recommended
that Representative Young be directed to amend his Financial
Disclosure Statements to include any gifts that should have
been reported at the time he accepted them, including the
improper gifts.
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\2\The provision of the House Rules that pertains to the acceptance
of gifts is House Rule XXV, clause 5 (hereinafter ``the House Gift
Rule''). This rule was previously codified as House Rule XXVI, clause
5, until the 110th Congress.
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Pursuant to House Rule XI, clause 3(a)(2), which provides
that the Committee may report to the House its findings and
conclusions for final disposition of investigative matters
after ``notice and hearing,'' the Committee provided
Representative Young with a copy of the ISC Report on May 8,
2014, and offered him the opportunity to be heard. On June 2,
2014, Representative Young exercised his right to be heard by
providing a written statement to the Committee accepting the
ISC's findings and submitting copies of checks he executed as
repayment to his campaign and to the donors of the improper
gifts.
III. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
On June 18, 2014, the Committee voted unanimously to
release this public Report finding that Representative Young
violated House Rules and other laws, rules and standards of
conduct governing the use of campaign funds for personal
purposes, the acceptance of gifts, and Financial Disclosure
reporting requirements. Specifically, between 2001 and 2013,
Representative Young accepted gifts and expenses related to
fifteen of the twenty-five hunting trips reviewed by the ISC
that were not permissible under the applicable House Gift Rule
at the time, as well as non-trip gifts. For seven of these
fifteen trips, only some of the expenses (such as air travel
provided by personal friends but not previously approved by the
Committee as required by House Rule XXV, or meal expenses paid
for by a trade association) were improper, with the remaining
expenses for those trips covered by one exception to the House
Gift Rule or another. For the remaining eight trips, all
expenses associated with the travel were either improper gifts
or improper personal use of campaign funds. Additionally,
Representative Young had not reported any of the proper or
improper gifts or trips that should have been reported on his
Financial Disclosure Statements for the relevant periods.
With respect to the conduct described above, Representative
Young violated House Rule XXIII, clause 6(b), which prohibits a
Member from converting campaign funds to personal use and 2
U.S.C. 439a(b), which prohibits any person from converting a
campaign contribution or donation to personal use.\3\
Representative Young also violated the House Gift Rule, which
prohibits Members from accepting any gift that does not fall
within an exception to the rule. Finally, Representative
Young's conduct violated the Ethics in Government Act, 5 U.S.C.
app. 4 Sec. Sec. 101-111, and House Rule XXVI, clause 2, which
require that Members file an annual Financial Disclosure
Statement that includes the value, source, and a brief
description of all gifts received that are greater than a
threshold amount.\4\
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\3\``Personal use'' is defined in 11 CFR Sec. 113.1(g) as ``any use
of funds in a campaign account . . . to fulfill a commitment,
obligation or expense of any person that would exist irrespective of
the candidate's campaign or duties as a Federal officeholder.''
\4\The aggregate minimal value used to determine whether gifts must
be reported on a Financial Disclosure Statement is established by 5
U.S.C.Sec. 7342(a)(5).
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The ISC noted that given the lengthy chronology of this
matter, and the corrosion of evidence over time, it could not
recommend a finding that Representative Young purposefully or
corruptly accepted any of the gifts in this matter. The ISC,
however, recognized that Representative Young's state of mind
at the time he obtained the gifts did not impact whether he
must repay the improper gifts and misused campaign funds. He
must. The ISC recommended that Representative Young repay the
full amount of the improper gifts and the improperly used
campaign funds. This amount totaled $59,063.74. This figure
includes repayment of $30,936.33 to your principal campaign
committee, Alaskans for Don Young, and repayment of $28,127.41
to ten private individuals or companies. The ISC also noted
that while it did not recommend that Representative Young
receive a House sanction for his actions, it recommended that
the Committee issue a letter of reproval to Representative
Young for his conduct.
The Committee accepts the recommendations of the ISC and
adopts its Report. In a June 2, 2014, letter to the ISC,
Representative Young accepted the ISC's, which includes a
recommendation that he be issued a letter of reproval, and he
expressed regret. The Committee appreciates that Representative
Young has accepted responsibility for his conduct and promptly
repaid the costs of the impermissible trips and gifts after
notification of the ISC's conclusions. Representative Young's
swift action to bring himself into compliance with the Rules is
an example of how a respondent should demonstrate his or her
recognition of the Committee's authority, acceptance of
responsibility, and desire to comply with the Rules of the
House and other applicable laws, rules, or regulations. The
Committee also recognizes the steps Representative Young has
taken in his office since 2007 to ensure that his, and his
staff's actions, comply with House Rules.
The Committee finds, however, that Representative Young's
more recent efforts at compliance, while commendable, do not
overcome the need for a letter of reproval regarding his
conduct with respect to the trips and gifts that were not
permissible and, more troubling, his misuse of campaign funds
for personal purposes. This is especially true given that
Representative Young used campaign funds for personal purposes
and accepted several of the improper gifts after the 2007 House
Gift Rule changes and that Representative Young only brought
these matters to the attention of the Committee after DOJ had
begun its investigation. The Committee agrees with the ISC that
Representative Young should be reproved because his actions
``demonstrated a lack of appropriate safeguards and an
inattention to the relevant standards of conduct.''\5\
Therefore, the Committee has issued a letter of reproval to
Representative Young for his conduct in this matter. Following
these actions, once Representative Young files properly
completed amendments to his Financial Disclosure Statements the
Committee will consider this matter closed.
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\5\ISC Report at 55.
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IV. STATEMENT UNDER RULE XIII, CLAUSE 3(c) OF THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
The Committee made no special oversight findings in this
report. No budget statement is submitted. No funding is
authorized by any measure in this report.