WASHINGTON _ A probe into whether a longtime aide for Rep. John Lewis was inappropriately paid to be his campaign treasurer while also serving as chief of staff has been taken up by the House Ethics Committee, the panel announced Wednesday.
An inquiry by the Office of Congressional Ethics found Lewis chief of staff Michael Collins also made slightly more in outside income as a senior staffer than House rules allow.
The OCE found Collins had served as campaign treasurer to Lewis' 2016 re-election campaign from March 2015 to January 2017, which the independent office considered to involve "fiduciary duties" prohibited by House rules.
The chamber's rules also don't allow staff to serve in a fiduciary role for a political organization and cites campaign treasurers specifically as roles in which staff may not be compensated for.
The OCE said it found evidence Collins also received compensation from Lewis' re-election campaign committee through consulting fees.
A letter from Collins' attorney called the OCE's findings "baseless" and said they mischaracterize Collins' role in the campaign. "Mr. Collins served as a voluntary treasurer, as have all previous treasurers for the Campaign Committee," the letter states. His attorney also said Collins had repaid a $295 overpayment he received that was more than he was allowed in outside salary, blaming it on a "minor arithmetic error."
The Ethics Committee will take up the inquiry but has no further deadlines in which it must make a public announcement of the outcome.
