Accountability for Government Officials Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 329 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a criminal penalty for certain Federal officers and employees using their public office for private gain, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 8, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a criminal penalty for certain Federal officers and employees using their public office for private gain, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for Gov- 4 ernment Officials Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 329 IH (1) During his time as Administrator of the 1 Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt faced 2 more than 12 separate ethics investigations includ- 3 ing by the Environmental Protection Agency Inspec- 4 tor General, the Committee on Oversight and Gov- 5 ernment Reform of the House of Representatives, 6 the Executive Office of the President, the Govern- 7 ment Accountability Office, and the U.S. Office of 8 Special Counsel. 9 (2) On October 2, 2017, the Department of the 10 Interior’s Inspector General confirmed they were in- 11 vestigating Secretary Ryan Zinke’s taxpayer-funded 12 flights, including $12,375 on a chartered flight from 13 Las Vegas to Montana where he spoke to a hockey 14 team that is owned by one of Secretary Zinke’s larg- 15 est political donors. 16 (3) On March 14, 2018, CNN reported that 17 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben 18 Carson knew about a dining set worth $31,000 that 19 was ordered for Carson’s office, knowledge of which 20 he had previously denied. 21 (4) On March 20, 2018, it was publicly re- 22 ported that Scott Pruitt secured a sub-market lease 23 for a Washington, DC, condominium owned by the 24 wife of a lobbyist who represented clients with mat- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 329 IH ters pending before the Environmental Protection 1 Agency, and told the Washington Examiner that he 2 was ‘‘dumbfounded that that’s controversial’’. 3 (5) On April 4, 2018, the New York Times re- 4 ported that Scott Pruitt used a loophole in the Safe 5 Water Drinking Act to give raises to his aides that 6 had been explicitly denied by the White House. 7 (6) On April 16, 2018, the Washington Post re- 8 ported that Scott Pruitt had spent nearly 9 $3,000,000 of taxpayer funds on security and travel 10 since taking office in February 2017. 11 (7) On April 26, 2018, Politico reported that 12 Scott Pruitt spent over $105,000 of taxpayer funds 13 on first-class flights, citing since-debunked threats to 14 his personal security. 15 (8) On June 5, 2018, the Washington Post re- 16 ported that Scott Pruitt used official channels to 17 pressure Chick-fil-A Chief Executive Officer Dan 18 Cathy into securing a restaurant franchise for his 19 wife. 20 (9) On June 6, 2018, the Washington Post re- 21 ported that Scott Pruitt forced aides to help him se- 22 cure a used ‘‘Trump Home Luxury Plush Euro Pil- 23 low Top’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 329 IH (10) On June 8, 2018, the Washington Post re- 1 ported that Scott Pruitt forced his security detail to 2 help him acquire high-end hand lotion and to pick 3 up his dry cleaning. 4 (11) On July 2, 2018, the Washington Post re- 5 ported that Scott Pruitt recruited a staff member to 6 help his wife find a job, the salary for which he stip- 7 ulated should be no less than $200,000. 8 (12) On July 5, 2018, Scott Pruitt resigned 9 amid myriad scandals and massive public pressure. 10 (13) On July 13, 2018, Forbes reported on Wil- 11 bur Ross’ massive conflicts of interest, including 12 having taken meetings with a trade association 13 whose members included a car manufacturer whose 14 investors included Ross himself. The same report 15 noted that Wilbur Ross took meetings with compa- 16 nies whose investors included his wife. 17 (14) On July 13, 2018, The New York Times 18 reported that Tom Price repeatedly violated govern- 19 ment travel rules, wasting at least $314,000 of tax- 20 payer funds by using chartered jets and military air 21 travel instead of commercially available flights. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 329 IH SEC. 3. USE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PRIVATE GAIN. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 93 of title 18, United 2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘§ 1925. Use of public office for private gain 5 ‘‘(a) USE FOR PRIVATE GAIN.—Whoever, being a 6 covered Federal officer or employee, uses his public office 7 for— 8 ‘‘(1) his own private gain; 9 ‘‘(2) the endorsement of any product, service or 10 enterprise; or 11 ‘‘(3) the private gain of a friend, relative, or a 12 person with whom the covered Federal officer or em- 13 ployee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity, 14 including a nonprofit organization of which the cov- 15 ered Federal officer or employee is an officer or 16 member, and a person with whom the employee has 17 or seeks employment or business relations, 18 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 19 one year, or in the case of a willful violation, not more 20 than 5 years, or both. 21 ‘‘(b) COERCION.—Whoever, being a covered Federal 22 officer or employee, uses or permits the use of his Govern- 23 ment position or title or any authority associated with his 24 public office in a manner that is intended to coerce or in- 25 duce another person, including a subordinate, to provide 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 329 IH any benefit, financial or otherwise, to himself or to a 1 friend, relative, or person with whom the covered Federal 2 officer or employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental ca- 3 pacity, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 4 than one year, or in the case of a willful violation, not 5 more than 5 years, or both. 6 ‘‘(c) COVERED FEDERAL OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE.— 7 For purposes of this section, the term ‘covered Federal 8 officer or employee’ means any of the following officers 9 or employees of the Federal Government: 10 ‘‘(1) Assistant to the President for National Se- 11 curity Affairs. 12 ‘‘(2) Assistant to the President and Chief of 13 Staff. 14 ‘‘(3) Assistant to the President and Deputy 15 Chief of Staff. 16 ‘‘(4) Assistant to the President and Deputy 17 Chief of Staff for Communications (or Director of 18 Communications). 19 ‘‘(5) Assistant to the President and Press Sec- 20 retary. 21 ‘‘(6) Senior Advisor to the President. 22 ‘‘(7) Assistant to the President and Staff Sec- 23 retary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 329 IH ‘‘(8) Assistant to the President for Homeland 1 Security and Counterterrorism. 2 ‘‘(9) Assistant to the President and Counselor 3 to the President. 4 ‘‘(10) Director of the National Economic Coun- 5 cil. 6 ‘‘(11) Director of the Domestic Policy Council. 7 ‘‘(12) Assistant to the President and Chief of 8 Staff or Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President. 9 ‘‘(13) Special Assistant to the President and 10 Director of Communications for the Vice President. 11 ‘‘(14) Press Secretary to the Vice President. 12 ‘‘(15) Senior Advisor to the Vice President. 13 ‘‘(16) Deputy Assistant to the President and 14 National Security Advisor or Deputy National Secu- 15 rity Advisor to the Vice President. 16 ‘‘(17) Deputy Assistant to the President and 17 Counselor to the Vice President. 18 ‘‘(18) Assistant to the President and White 19 House Counsel. 20 ‘‘(19) Director of the Office of Management 21 and Budget. 22 ‘‘(20) Any officer or employee whose appoint- 23 ment is made by the President by and with the ad- 24 vice and consent of the Senate.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 329 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 for chapter 93 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 2 by inserting after the item related to section 1924 the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘1925. Use of public office for private gain.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS