Ethics Committee finds Rashida Tlaib violations were ‘bad timing’ not ‘ill intent’

The House Ethics Committee found Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) violated campaign finance rules by receiving a campaign salary when she was no longer a congressional candidate — but that she did not have “ill intent” in her actions.

The committee concluded that receiving a portion of her salary from campaign funds following the 2018 general election ran afoul of the Federal Election Campaign Act, according to a report released Friday.

But the committee noted that Tlaib’s error was “one of bad timing and not ill intent.”

“Representative Tlaib engaged in good faith efforts to comply with the relevant FECA requirements,” the panel said. “The Committee did not find that she sought to unjustly enrich herself by receiving the campaign funds at issue.”

The Ethics Committee ordered that Tlaib pay back her campaign the $10,800 that she improperly received when she was no longer a candidate. Apart from the reimbursement and the issuing of the report, the committee said it would take no further action.

The report also noted that during her campaign, Tlaib received a small amount of campaign funds that was below the legal maximum she was eligible to claim.

The first Palestinian American elected to Congress, the Detroit-born Tlaib won her seat in the 2018 midterms and rose to prominence as a member of the progressive “Squad.” Tlaib triumphed in her 2020 primary campaign on Tuesday and will likely win reelection in her heavily Democratic district.