Sinema hit with ethics complaint over alleged failure to detail finances in disclosures: ‘Highly suspicious’
Fox News
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., is facing a complaint alleging an “ongoing failure” to “fully complete” financial disclosure reports as required by lawmakers, according to a letter provided to Fox News Digital.
The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) sent the document to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics Monday, calling for an investigation into Sinema’s alleged failure to disclose assets, income, and other required items related to Dr. Lindsay Buckman, whom Sinema treated as a spouse for officially related travel in the past and who the group says she still lives with.
“The American people deserve to know that their elected officials are making decisions based on what benefits the American people, and not based on what benefits them financially,” AAF president Tom Jones told Fox News Digital. “Yet Sen. Sinema’s failure to disclose the nature of this relationship makes it impossible for the American people to have confidence in her motives.”
“Sen. Sinema has a moral and legal obligation to fully disclose the details of her finances,” Jones said. “The fact that she hasn’t done so is highly suspicious and troubling.”
AFF’s complaint revolves around Buckman, who the group says Sinema reported on a 2013 trip to Israel by appearing to have “petitioned the [House Committee on Ethics] to allow Dr. Buckman to travel with her because Representative Sinema believed Dr. Buckman was a spouse in all but title.”
“While Senator Sinema appears to believe Dr. Buckman is just like a spouse for the purpose of $7737.15 junkets to Israel funded by outside groups, she does not seem to believe that the spousal designation applies for the purposes of financial disclosures,” the complaint states.
“The spousal disclosures on financial disclosure forms are required to disclose and prevent conflicts of interest,” the group writes. “The Ethics in Government Act has always understood that conflicts related to holdings of a spouse should be imputed to the spouse who is a Member.”
AAF notes Sinema’s financial disclosures “includes barely any assets, despite her having held a Congressional salary of $174,000 for over a decade” and called for the committee to open an investigation into the matter.
“Further, Senator Sinema’s disclosure has been so sparse as to strain credibility, failing to list items such as checking accounts or a mortgage,” the letter says. “When coupled with her persistent effort to hide what she regards as marital assets, investigation by the Ethics Committee of Senator Sinema’s filings is required.”
National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Tate Mitchell echoed AFF’s concerns, saying her failure to disclose assets raises concerns.
“Kyrsten Sinema’s failure to disclose her assets and potential conflicts of interest raises serious ethical questions as she flirts with asking Arizonans for their vote again,” Mitchell said. “Arizonans deserve to have an honest broker serving them in the Senate, not another shady D.C. politician.”
Sinema’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the complaint.