--- title: Office of Congressional Ethics: Key Investigations description: House Republicans have reversed course on a vote to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics. These are three key investigations by the office canonical: https://time.com/4620983/misconduct-investigations-congressional-ethics/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-03T20:01:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T14:01:12.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: 3 Big Findings Uncovered by the Office of Congressional Ethics og:description: House Republicans reversed course on a controversial vote to gut the office og:url: https://time.com/4620983/misconduct-investigations-congressional-ethics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a0fcaac9054e192/6988b44d5f570f4849b23a99/bob-goodlatte-congressional-ethics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 115th Congress Convenes For The First Time In 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 3 Big Findings Uncovered by the Office of Congressional Ethics twitter:description: House Republicans reversed course on a controversial vote to gut the office twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a0fcaac9054e192/6988b44d5f570f4849b23a99/bob-goodlatte-congressional-ethics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 3 Big Findings Uncovered by the Office of Congressional Ethics  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:01 PM UTCPublished: Jan 3, 2017 8:01 PM UTC  Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, stands in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3, 2017\. House Republicans dropped their bid to weaken the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, stands in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3, 2017\. House Republicans dropped their bid to weaken the independent Office of Congressional Ethics.Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:01 PM UTCPublished: Jan 3, 2017 8:01 PM UTC House Republicans on Tuesday [reversed course](http://time.com/4620853/house-gop-office-of-congressional-ethics-reversal/) on a vote to [gut the Office of Congressional Ethics](http://time.com/4620405/house-republicans-office-congressional-ethics/)—an independent watchdog created to investigate allegations of corruption and misconduct by lawmakers. The controversial vote was swiftly criticized by Democrats and government watchdog organizations. And Republicans accepted a motion to restore current Office of Congressional Ethics rules—after President-elect Donald Trump [criticized their priorities](http://time.com/4620585/donald-trump-congressional-ethics-gop/). The office investigates lawmakers but cannot punish them and does not officially determine guilt. Here are three key Office of Congressional Ethics investigations: **Azerbaijan-funded conference**In 2013, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company secretly funded a trip to a conference in Baku for 10 members of Congress, some of their spouses and 32 staff members, the [Washington _Post_ reported in 2015](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/10-members-of-congress-took-trip-secretly-funded-by-foreign-government/2015/05/13/76b55332-f720-11e4-9030-b4732caefe81%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.62a2cd3ef7d7), citing a confidential ethics report. The report accused the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic of funneling $750,000 through U.S. nonprofit corporations, which falsely told Congress they were sponsoring the conference. The report found that the legislators and their staff members had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel expenses, silk scarves and Azerbaijani rugs. But it determined there was no evidence the lawmakers had known the conference was funded by a foreign government, the _Post_ reported. **Outgoing Florida Rep. Alan Grayson**An Office of Congressional Ethics investigation last year found that outgoing Florida Rep. Alan Grayson, a Democrat, might have used his office and staff for personal financial matters as well as for his U.S. Senate bid, [the New York _Times_ reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/us/politics/alan-grayson-florida.html). The report said Grayson might have allowed one of his House staff members to use official resources for work on his family-run hedge fun. But Grayson denied the accusation and said the staffer was paid separately to work on financial matters outside of the office one day per week. Grayson denied any wrongdoing, and the House Ethics Committee did not launch a further investigation into the accusations, the [Orlando _Sentinel_ reported](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-grayson-exit-interview-20161222-story.html). **Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan**An OCE report released in May 2012 [found “substantial reason to believe”](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/us/politics/ethics-inquiry-casts-harsh-light-on-vern-buchanan.html) that Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan had violated federal law and Congressional rules by attempting to influence the testimony of a former business partner, who was a witness in a federal inquiry about campaign finance violations. Before agreeing to pay his ex-business partner a $2.9 million settlement from a business dispute, Buchanan tried to get him to sign a legal affidavit that he knew to be false, the [New York _Times_ reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/us/politics/ethics-inquiry-casts-harsh-light-on-vern-buchanan.html), citing the investigation. Buchanan denied the charges, and a House Ethics Committee cleared Buchanan last year, citing insufficient evidence and concluding a four-year investigation that followed the recommendation of the Office of Congressional Ethics. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4620983/misconduct-investigations-congressional-ethics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4620983/misconduct-investigations-congressional-ethics/"},"headline":"3 Big Findings Uncovered by the Office of Congressional Ethics","datePublished":"2017-01-03T20:01:59.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T14:01:12.000Z","description":"House Republicans have reversed course on a controversial vote to gut the office","url":"https://time.com/4620983/misconduct-investigations-congressional-ethics/","keywords":["Congress","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a0fcaac9054e192/6988b44d5f570f4849b23a99/bob-goodlatte-congressional-ethics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a0fcaac9054e192/6988b44d5f570f4849b23a99/bob-goodlatte-congressional-ethics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"115th Congress Convenes For The First Time In 2017","caption":"115th Congress Convenes For The First Time In 2017","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4620983/misconduct-investigations-congressional-ethics/","name":"3 Big Findings Uncovered by the Office of Congressional Ethics"}}]}] ```