WASHINGTON _ The House Ethics Committee cleared Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of violating chamber rules after campaign-related emails were sent during a sit-in last June because the panel concluded members need "additional guidance" when it came to the use of electronic devices on the floor.
While an inquiry by the Office of Congressional Ethics found there was reason to believe Lujan, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, may have conducted campaign activity and asked the ethics panel to take up the matter, the independent OCE also acknowledged that its review "raised difficult questions about the application of House rules to solicitations via email."
At issue was an email the New Mexico Democrat sent to a campaign volunteer the day of the sit-in last June that requested: "Get something out there." The email Lujan forwarded to the volunteer was another email sent by the campaign of Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham that urged people to sign a petition while the member was protesting on the House floor.
The committee said there was no proof Lujan was actually on the House floor or in a federal building when the email was sent because like many other members, he had walked on and off the floor and inside and outside the Capitol throughout the protest that lasted more than 20 hours.
"In this age of always-on mobile communications, Members may find it impractical or unreasonable to have to exit a House building before sending a three-word campaign email," the committee wrote in its report.
The OCE acknowledged during its review that "the evolving nature of electronic communications and campaign solicitations sometimes presents novel issues that are not directly addressed by the House Ethics Manual."
Lujan was among a host of lawmakers who participated in a "sit-in" on the House floor in June 2016 to demand Republicans bring a bill prohibiting people on the government's "no fly" list from buying guns to the floor for a vote after a shooting in an Orlando, Fla., nightclub killed 48 people.
A spokesman for Lujan called the probe a "politically motivated complaint" that was "without merit."
The protest, which disrupted an entire day's worth of legislative business and went into early the next morning, had many lawmakers posting photos of themselves on the floor online, which is technically a violation of House rules.
Several Republicans, including those in leadership, suggested punishing Democrats as a result.
So far, Lujan's is the only inquiry that has been resolved by the House on the matter.
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