Senator Whitehouse and wife targeting in ethics complaint

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has once again found himself in the crosshairs of a possible ethics case.

Whitehouse voted for several pieces of legislation that wound up funding projects his wife was involved in.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, or FACT, has appealed to the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate Whitehouse.

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Whitehouse was targeted last year by Judicial Watch on this matter, asking if it was a conflict of interest for Whitehouse to be voting in legislation that would directly benefit his wife and her company.

The Senator’s wife, Sandra Whitehouse, has been a senior policy adviser for Ocean Conservancy since 2008.

She is qualified for the role, having a Ph.D. in marine biology, so that is not the question. What is in question is why Whitehouse was permitted to vote on legislation that ultimately funneled money to his wife’s business.

In this case, Ocean Conservancy paid $280,000 to Ocean Wonks, LLC, which is owned by Sandra Whitehouse.

Ocean Conservancy received $6.9 million in grants between the infrastructure bill and the 2024 Appropriations Act, both of which were passed during the Biden administration.

Kendra Arnold, FACT’s executive director, stated, “It is this type of circular relationship between a senator and an organization that lobbies and pays his wife a salary that the public is rightfully fed up with.”

This is much the same as we are seeing with USAID grants going to companies with direct ties to elected officials as well as former politicians, such as the Clintons.

When Judicial Watch filed its initial complaint, the Senate Ethics Committee, not shockingly, dismissed it, stating, “The Committee carefully evaluated the allegations in the complaint and, based on all the information before it, the Committee concluded that Senator Whitehouse’s actions did not violate federal law, Senate Rules, and other standards of conduct.

“Accordingly, the Committee intends no further action with respect to this matter.”

Whitehouse, of course, has painted this as a deflection and smear by the right, with his office stating, “The billionaires and Supreme Court-capture operatives behind FACT would like to try to stop Senator Whitehouse from shining a light on what they’ve done to deprive regular people of a fair shake before the Court.

“But false accusations from far-right special interests and billionaires like Elon Musk – who is trying to silence critics of his raid on federal agencies – will not impede the senator’s pursuit of an accountable, ethical government that responds to Americans’ needs.”

The problem is that we have thieves investigating their fellow thieves. If you look at the history of ethics complaints, there is rarely significant punishment handed down. They are all doing it, and they know if they hold one accountable, the house of cards will fall, so they continue to look the other way.

We need an independent investigation, not senators investigating their fellow senators.