Mooney responded on social media Monday evening, saying, “It has been clear all along this was a politically motivated move from the separate Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), which was created by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2019. After facing these baseless accusations — driven by politically motivated actors on the extreme left — since 2021, I am pleased that my good name has been fully cleared.”
A representative from Mooney’s office referred a reporter to Mooney’s statement on X and to the Committee on Ethics’ news release.
I am grateful to announce that the long standing bipartisan U.S. House Committee on Ethics has fully dismissed all allegations raised against me following their inquiry in which I fully cooperated and answered all their questions. (1/2)https://t.co/ojkCx5kDAr
A July 2021 Gazette-Mail review of Mooney’s campaign finance reports found his campaign spent more than $86,000 on food and beverages from the start of 2015 through June 2021, with the vast majority of those purchases coming at restaurants in Ranson, Jefferson County, near the four-bedroom Charles Town home Mooney purchased for $430,000 in 2015, according to Jefferson County records.
In an emailed statement in September 2021, Mooney’s then-campaign spokesman Mark Harris said that prior to the Office of Congressional Ethics inquiry, Mooney adopted multiple new procedures, amended past reports to ensure their accuracy and hired a company to ensure full legal compliance and accurate reporting.
A May 2022 report from the Office of Congressional Ethics stated that there was “substantial reason to believe” that Mooney accepted an impermissible gift — in the form of a trip to Aruba — and free lodging, converted campaign funds from his campaign committees to personal use, and withheld or falsified information during the first ethics investigation.
At the time, the Office of Congressional Ethics cited alleged evidence that Mooney routinely diverted official resources and staff time away from his constituents and official duties in favor of his and his family’s personal needs and, sometimes, for campaign activities.
Although the investigation is closed and Mooney and others have been cleared, Monday’s news release from the House Committee on Ethics said, in part, “existing law and guidance from the FEC is often ambiguous and provides for significant gray areas of spending.”
The news release also said, “there was evidence that the Member’s campaign did not fully comply with the applicable standards relating to personal use of campaign funds, as well as reporting or recordkeeping requirements for campaign expenditures. However, there was no evidence that any Member intentionally misused campaign funds for their personal benefit. The Committee has contacted relevant Members to provide them with a copy of the updated guidance as well as specific findings and recommendations with respect to that Member’s campaign activity.”
House ethics investigations can have serious outcomes.
The House Ethics Committee may recommend to the full House of Representatives disciplinary action that starts with a letter of disapproval and can escalate to a fine, reprimand, censure (a more severe rebuke than a reprimand) and even expulsion. But even House reprimands are rare. There have been only 11 House members reprimanded since 1976. Only six congressmen have ever been expelled from the House, with Rep. George Santos R-N.Y., the last one, in December 2023.
Mooney will leave Congress on Friday after serving five terms, representing northern West Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle. Last spring, Mooney ran for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., but lost to Gov. Jim Justice in the 2024 primary.
