John Lewis’ top aide apparently target of House ethics investigation

The U.S. WASHINGTON — House Ethics Committee on Monday launched an inquiry into a complaint filed against a congressional staffer who appears to be U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ longtime top aide.

The panel’s top Republican and Democratic members said they agreed to investigate a complaint filed against Michael Collins, a House aide, on May 11. That’s the name of Lewis’ longtime chief of staff, and a search through LegiStorm’s database of House staffers indicated he was the only Michael Collins employed by the House last month.

It is unclear what specifically the committee is investigating, and the panel’s spokesman declined to comment.

The lawmakers did not disclose whether the inquiry is connected to a complaint the conservative watchdog group the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed against Collins in January. Its request to the independent Office of Congressional Ethics alleged that Collins broke ethics rules that bar senior staffers from serving on campaign organizations as officers and making more than the allowed amount for outside work. A spokeswoman for Lewis, a Democrat from Atlanta, said at the time that lawyers had reviewed the matter “and we were assured there was no violation of ethics rules.”

House Ethics investigators on Monday said they were undertaking the inquiry at the recommendation of the Office of Congressional Ethics. The committee also announced it was looking into a pair of complaints filed against U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the longest-serving member of the House, and U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, who leads House Democrats’ election arm, that were filed on the same day. It is unclear whether the three complaints are related.

The committee said in its announcement that the inquiry in and of itself should not be viewed as an acknowledgement of ethical wrongdoing on Collins’ part. A Lewis spokeswoman emphasized that point in an emailed statement.

The ethics panel said it would announce its course of action on or before Aug. 9.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.