A government watchdog organization has filed a request with the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate New Jersey Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen because of a fundraising letter he sent to a bank executive.
The letter, first reported by WNYC on Monday, included a hand-written note at the bottom, indicating that one of the bank's employees had been organizing against the congressman. The North Jersey Republican also sent along a news article naming the employee, Saily Avelenda, a senior vice president and assistant general counsel at the bank. Avelenda resigned from her job, in part because of the pressure she received over her political involvement.
The Campaign for Accountability says the letter shows Frelinghuysen abusing his clout.
“It seems pretty clear that he was trying to intimidate the bank into doing something about this employee,” said Daniel Stevens, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability. “And that just struck us as something extremely improper.”
Frelinghuysen's office did not respond to questions about the request.
The March letter was a standard fundraising plea that Frelinghuysen sent to Joseph O’Dowd, an executive at Lakeland Bank who has donated more than $2,000 to the Republican’s campaigns. But at the bottom of the page he scrawled, "P.S. One of the ringleaders works in your bank!"
The "ringleader," Avelenda, is a member of NJ 11th for Change. The group has marched on Frelinghuysen’s offices, asked him to hold town hall meetings and then organized a do-it-yourself town hall when the congressman refused.
The Office of Congressional Ethics declined to discuss any investigation.
The office was established in 2008 after a string of corruption cases in the House. The public can submit evidence and ask the agency to review it. The agency has up to 89 days to decide whether to refer the matter to the House Committee on Ethics for further investigation. Typically, the office's reports are private unless the House committee announces an investigation.
Only the House Committee on Ethics can sanction members.
The complaint from the Campaign for Accountability asserts that Frelinghuysen, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, tried to use his position for personal gain. It also charges that he violated the House code of conduct. In an interview, the organization's director said he was surprised at how brazen Frelinghuysen’s letter was.
“Maybe I’m cynical," Stevens said, "but this strikes me as something that happens a lot behind closed doors and on the phone where we can’t see it, where there’s arm-twisting of donors. But to be so blatantly obvious about it, that strikes me as new and different.”
The Campaign for Accountability is non-partisan, but it’s board members include Democratic campaign veterans.