Kentucky’s First District Congressman is facing a formal investigation by the House ethics commission.
Republican Ed Whitfield faces accusations that he improperly aided his wife’s lobbying efforts on behalfof her employer, the Humane Society Legislative Fund.
The Office of Congressional Ethics issued a report stating that the Congressman set up and attended as many as 100 meetings with his wife, ConnieHarriman-Whitfield, and other lawmakers and their staffers.
Politco reports the four-person committee investigating the charges will be chaired by Texas Republican Rep. Kenny Marchant, and will also include Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-Virginia), Ted Deutch (D-Florida), and John Carney (D-Delaware).
Whitfield and his wife have both denied any wrongdoing, and the Congressman says those who initiated the ethics complaints were upset over his sponsoring of a bill designed to protect Tennessee Walking Horses from a practice known as soring—in which where chains and pads are used to conceal irritants that result in horses achieving a high-stepping gait desired in some competitions.
