Representative Lance Gooden (R-TX) is under investigation for an undisclosed matter, according to a recent statement from a House of Representatives committee.
The House Committee on Ethics said in a statement on Monday that the Office of Congressional Conduct, an independent investigative arm of the House, referred the Texas congressman for investigation on June 10.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the committee said.
The committee said its decided course of action would be made on or before Nov. 9, but no further details on what is being investigated were given.
Rep. Gooden’s office has not yet responded to multiple requests for comment from Texas Politics, but the congressman told Fox News that the allegations are false.
“These are bogus spending allegations perpetrated by dishonest unelected [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] OCC bureaucrats,” Rep. Gooden said. “And as the fifth Texas GOP ally of the President to endure one of these attacks, I am confident the House Ethics Committee will confirm their baseless nature.”
In 2021, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) wrote to the House committee calling for an investigation into 12 assets Rep. Gooden purchased in 2020 that ranged from $60,019 to $376,000. The CLC claimed Rep. Gooden did not disclose these transactions in a “timely manner,” thus violating the STOCK Act and House rules.
“While Rep.Gooden disclosed the ownership of these assets on his annual financial disclosure, he did not file any corresponding periodic transaction reports,” the CLC wrote.
These developments come as pressure on Congress to maintain transparency about personal finances and outside earnings continues to increase, with the Stop Insider Trading Act passing the House just last week.
“When members of Congress trade individual stocks and fail to disclose those trades, they break the law and diminish the public’s trust in government,” the CLC wrote.
