{"id":1566606,"date":"2022-07-22T13:31:02","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T17:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1566606"},"modified":"2022-07-22T13:35:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T17:35:42","slug":"democrat-rep-spends-more-campaign-dollars-at-swanky-golf-club-amid-ethics-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-rep-spends-more-campaign-dollars-at-swanky-golf-club-amid-ethics-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrat Rep Spends More Campaign Dollars At Swanky Golf Club Amid Ethics Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrat-rep-spends-more-campaign-dollars-at-swanky-golf-club-amid-ethics-probe%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1566606&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Democratic congressman spent thousands in campaign funds at a private golf club despite already being under investigation for doing just that, federal records show.<\/p>\n<p>There is \u201csubstantial reason to believe\u201d Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop violated federal law and House rules after he directed over $90,000 to Green Island Country Club and other entities, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) <a href=\"https:\/\/ethics.house.gov\/sites\/ethics.house.gov\/files\/documents\/OCE%20Report%20and%20Findings_0.pdf\">said<\/a> in January 2020. But Bishop has <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/fecimg\/?202110159467504180\">continued<\/a> to direct <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/pdf\/469\/202207159518661469\/202207159518661469.pdf\">payments<\/a> to the golf club \u2014 which is located in Columbus, Georgia \u2014 spending roughly $71,200 for \u201cfacility usage, golf packages and catering\u201d in both September 2021 and June 2022, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe referenced payment was for the direct costs of the Sanford Bishop Golf Classic, a specific campaign fundraising event held annually at the Green Island Country Club, and attended on August 16, 2021, by more than 200 people,\u201d a spokesman for Bishop told the Washington Examiner, which first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/georgia-democrat-sanford-bishop-ethics-investigation-golf-club\">reported<\/a> on the latest payments, in connection to the 2021 payment. <strong>(<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/06\/30\/dem-proxy-voted-spent-travel\/\">RELATED: Democratic Rep Cast Most Of His Votes By \u2018Proxy\u2019 While Spending Tens Of Thousands On Travel And Events)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7482173\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7482173\" class=\"wp-image-7482173 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1357783067-scaled-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1357783067-scaled-1.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1357783067-180x120.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1357783067-620x413-1.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1357783067-768x512-1.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1357783067-1536x1024-1.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1357783067-2048x1365-1.jpeg 2048w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7482173\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 DECEMBER 07: U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) delivers remarks at a \u201cVigil for Justice\u201d on the steps to the U.S. Capitol on December 07, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congressional members, including those with the Congressional Black Caucus, attended the vigil to call on the Senate to consider the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bishop, who according to the Examiner accepted blame for his prior payments dating back to 2014 during <a href=\"https:\/\/ethics.house.gov\/sites\/ethics.house.gov\/files\/documents\/OCE%20Report%20and%20Findings%20Exhibits%20-%20Part%201_0.pdf\">interviews<\/a> with OCE, reimbursed his campaign committee more than $66,000 in July 2020, FEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/?committee_id=C00266940&#038;two_year_transaction_period=2020&#038;cycle=2020&#038;line_number=F3-15&#038;data_type=processed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">records<\/a> show. OCE referred Bishop\u2019s payments to the House Ethics Committee, which is ran by members of Congress and adjudicates violations, but the committee has not taken any action.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop, who is running for re-election in 2022, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2022\/06\/22\/chris-west-sanford-bishop-georgia\">reportedly<\/a> in \u201cGeorgia\u2019s only competitive congressional race,\u201d according to Axios. He told OCE investigators in 2020 that attending the golf resort starting in 2014 gave him access to \u201ca segment of the public that I didn\u2019t \u2026 I wouldn\u2019t rub shoulders with on the street,\u201d according to a published 2020 interview transcript with OCE, the Examiner reported.<\/p>\n<p>Attending the club also gave him access to \u201cCEOs, retired CEOs, chairman of bank boards, you know that type of thing,\u201d said the congressman, according to the Examiner.<\/p>\n<p>It is illegal for campaign funds to be put toward country club membership dues, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/help-candidates-and-committees\/making-disbursements\/personal-use\/\">according<\/a> to the FEC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCampaign funds may not be used to pay for dues to country clubs, health clubs, recreational facilities or other nonpolitical organizations unless the payments are made in connection with a specific fundraising event that takes place on the organization\u2019s premises,\u201d the FEC says on its website.<\/p>\n<p>OCE spokesman William Beaman declined the DCNF\u2019s request for comment and the House Ethics Committee did not respond. Bishop\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bishop has continued to direct payments to the golf club, which is located in Columbus, Georgia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1566606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1566606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1566606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1566606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1566606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}