U.S. Second Congressional District Rep. Sanford Bishop responds to ethics questions

WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee has decided to extend an ongoing investigation into possible ethics violations by U.S. Second Congressional District Rep. Sanford Bishop.

The report says that Bishop may have used thousands of dollars in campaign funds for personal expenses on gas fill-ups for himself and his family, greens fees at country clubs, luxurious trips and school tuition.

The report also says the Georgia Democrat may have spent more than $16,000 in taxpayer money for joint Christmas parties with his congressional staff and his wife’s employees, according to the Office of Congressional Ethics report that was released Friday.

The report said the allegations are broken down into two categories: improper use of campaign funds and impermissible use of Bishop’s Members’ Representational Allowance, both of which would be violations of federal law and House rules. The MRA is taxpayer-funded money whose only allowed usage is support for official member duties, such as staff salaries and official travel.

The OCE report was released because the House Ethics Committee decided to further extend its investigation into Bishop.

“Congressman Bishop is dedicated to honoring the principles and values of his office,” a spokesperson for Bishop said. “Before the Office of Congressional Ethics notified him of its review, he was made aware of mistakes made by his campaign and had already taken immediate action to bring it into compliance. Congressman Bishop has fully cooperated with the OCE’s review and proactively reimbursed many of the charges OCE identified as incorrect. He will continue to work with the Ethics Committee openly and transparently, and is prepared to take any further, necessary corrective action.”

The OCE found “widespread mismanagement and misuse of the Sanford Bishop for Congress campaign committee funds.” The office also said some of the spending in question could be tied to Evelyn Turner Pugh, who was employed as treasurer from 1993 until 2019 and may have misspent campaign funds on herself and falsified Federal Election Commission filings. Pugh made several errors and misused funds, the OCE said.

“Congressman Bishop has changed campaign treasurers, retained the services of an experienced compliance consultant to prepare and file the campaign’s reports, and engaged the law firm Perkins Coie to conduct a thorough review of his campaign’s finances,” Bishop’s spokesperson said. “The Congressman recognizes that these mistakes should never have happened to begin with. Going forth, he intends to provide better oversight to ensure errors like this never happen again. Serving the people of Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District is an honor, a privilege, and a responsibility Congressman Bishop is deeply committed to upholding as he works to bring this matter to a close.”

The report also indicated Bishop may have misspent campaign funds for golf-related items and club memberships.

In 1999, Bishop became a member of Stonebridge Golf and Country Club in Albany, where he held an annual golf fundraiser, “the Sanford Bishop Golf Classic,” at the club from 1998 through 2012. That, the report said, is a legitimate campaign expense.

However, Bishop paid monthly billing statements from the club — from campaign coffers — that include membership dues, driving range fees, locker fees, guest greens fees, golf cart usage and golf supplies. From 2009 to 2019 Bishop’s campaign committee paid more than $30,000 from campaign funds for membership dues, range fees and other expenditures, the report said.

“Rep. Bishop acknowledged it was a mistake for the campaign committee to pay the SGCC monthly membership dues and associated fees,” the OCE report says.

In 2014, Bishop joined Green Island Country Club in Columbus, a club he moved his annual golf fundraiser to the year before. Bishop paid a $5,000 initiation fee with campaign funds to join Green Island. Between 2014 and 2019, Bishop spent more than $16,200 in campaign funds on meals and golf cart fees. This total excludes costs associated with the annual golf fundraiser.

“While Rep. Bishop believes that his time on the golf course has assisted his campaigns for re-election, he also acknowledged that some of his golf-related campaign spending constituted personal use,” the OCE said.

Bishop’s attorneys at Perkins Coie wrote to the Ethics Committee on July 29 to say the congressman had rectified the issue.

“Representative Bishop has terminated the practice of using campaign funds to pay for membership dues at Green Island Country Club and Stonebridge Golf and Country Club,” the attorneys said. “Representative Bishop now pays personally for all such memberships, and he has reimbursed his campaign for dues payments and other disbursements made to these country clubs.”

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