Watchdog says Mike Johnson used campaign funds to rent from GOP lawmaker

WASHINGTON (CN) — A government watchdog group has urged the Federal Elections Commission and congressional ethics czars to investigate House Speaker Mike Johnson, claiming he used campaign funds to foot the bill for a Washington residence he rents from another lawmaker.

The formal complaints, lodged by the Campaign Legal Center, come just months after the House speaker moved to a new home in the capital city following reports that he had been living alongside an evangelical pastor in a townhouse owned by a major Republican donor.

The watchdog group, in its FEC complaint filed Wednesday, pointed to five $2,500 disbursements from Johnson’s campaign account since March, which were titled “rent” and totaled a little over $12,000. The funds were directed to a company called Greene Properties, located in Vista, California, and owned by California Representative Darrell Issa, according to the Republican lawmaker’s financial disclosure documents.

Federal law bars members of Congress from using campaign contributions for “personal use,” a condition described as any obligation or expense that a lawmaker might have outside of their responsibilities as an elected official.

“It is against the law for a campaign to pay for the personal rent of a candidate,” Kedric Payne, vice president and general counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, told Courthouse News in an interview. “In this situation, we see that the speaker has acknowledged that he is renting personal space from Darrell Issa, and then we see the campaign paid Darrell Issa’s company for rent. You put all those together, and it looks like the campaign is breaking the law.”

Issa confirmed to Semafor in April that the House speaker was renting from him. “He’s a friend and needed a place,” the California Republican said at the time — and a spokesperson for Johnson told the publication the lawmaker had negotiated a “fair market price” in his rental agreement with the speaker.

A spokesperson for Issa’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on this week’s FEC complaint.

Johnson reportedly moved to Issa’s residence in March, following a ProPublica report that revealed he had been living in Washington with Steve Berger, an evangelical pastor, in a multimillion-dollar townhouse on Capitol Hill owned by a wealthy Republican donor.

That timeline, the Campaign Legal Center told the FEC this week, lines up with the beginning of the five $2,500 rent payments made out to Greene Properties.

The watchdog also argued that, since 2017, the Johnson campaign has only reported two other rent payments using campaign funds, a $950 disbursement in 2018 and a roughly $2,000 payment in 2020. Both were paid to a company called Beene Office Park LLC, based in Shreveport, Louisiana — part of the House speaker’s congressional district.

“Viewed as a whole, these facts support finding reason to believe that Johnson’s campaign has paid $12,500 — and is likely continuing to pay $2,500 per month — to rent Johnson a personal residence in Washington, D.C.,” the group said in its complaint.

The Johnson campaign, however, has insisted the listed payments are above board. Greg Steele, political communications director for the House speaker’s campaign, told Courthouse News on Friday that the disclosed rent disbursements were for a separate campaign office space with its own entrance, stairwell and street access used “strictly for campaign business.”

“It is common practice for members to have campaign office space in Washington paid by the campaign and is in full compliance with the law,” said Steele.

The Campaign Legal Center told the FEC this week that there was “no indication” in the House speaker’s campaign committee disclosure reports that his campaign had ever rented office space in the D.C. area, pointing to the 2018 and 2020 payments as the only other examples of campaign funds used for office space. The watchdog also cast suspicion on the idea that Johnson’s campaign would begin renting such space “at precisely the same time” the speaker reportedly moved into Issa’s property.

“The vastly more credible explanation is that Johnson’s campaign is paying to rent a personal residence for Johnson,” the group said.

Further, the Campaign Legal Center argued the FEC has held that using campaign funds for any part of a personal residence is considered “personal use,” even if part of the residence is used for campaign purposes.

“This is extremely unusual for a speaker to get into this type of activity,” Payne said. “This is very abnormal.”

An FEC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the organization would investigate the Campaign Legal Center’s claims. The organization on Wednesday also requested that the Office of Congressional Conduct, formerly known as the Office of Congressional Ethics, look into the matter.

A spokesperson for the congressional ethics panel also did not immediately return a request for comment.

Steele, meanwhile, told Courthouse News on Friday that the Johnson campaign had not been notified of any complaints or asked to respond by either agency.

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