December 10th, 2025
Following Damning Complaint by ECU, Rep. Young Kim Admits to Violating Federal Law with $50,000 in Undisclosed Luxury Travel
WASHINGTON, DC — Last week, End Citizens United (ECU), a leading national campaign finance reform organization, submitted a complaint to the U.S. House Office of Congressional Conduct calling for an immediate investigation into Congresswoman Young Kim (CA-40) for violating federal law by failing to report nearly $50,000 in privately-sponsored travel, including multiple foreign trips that featured business-class airfare and five-star hotel accommodations for Kim and her husband.
After an exclusive NOTUS report in which a spokesperson for the congresswoman inaccurately asserted that “Rep. Kim always acts in accordance with House rules and works with counsel to file all necessary disclosures,” the California lawmaker now appears to have acknowledged the violations and quietly scrambled to file paperwork disclosing the five trips highlighted in ECU’s complaint following a drumbeat of national and local media scrutiny.
“Congresswoman Kim blatantly disregarded federal law, got caught red-handed, and only moved to fix it after we filed our complaint,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “The fact of the matter is, this wasn’t a one-time oversight. She violated disclosure requirements five separate times, hiding nearly $50,000 in travel paid for by private entities. It shouldn’t require outside watchdogs to force a sitting member of Congress to follow the law."
The complaint filed by ECU, available in its entirety here, details trips including:
February 2022: $25,000+ paid by the American Israel Education Foundation for Rep. Kim and her husband to travel from Los Angeles to Israel. According to the trip's itinerary, Kim stayed in the David Citadel Hotel — a five star luxury hotel.
March 2022: $1,100+ paid by the Republican MainStreet Partnership for travel from Washington, D.C. to San Antonio, Texas.
December 2023: $1,000+ paid by the Gates Global Policy Center for travel from Washington, D.C. to Williamsburg, Virginia.
March 2024: $19,000+ paid by The Korea Society and the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress for travel for Rep. Kim and her husband from Los Angeles to Seoul and Busan, South Korea. The Kims stayed at two five-star hotels: The Shilla Seoul and the Lotte Hotel Seoul.
April 2024: $1,700+ paid by The Governing Majority Education Fund for travel to New York City.
Press coverage of the complaint includes:
NOTUS: Complaint: Rep. Young Kim Failed to Properly Disclose Privately Funded Travel
In a complaint filed Thursday and reviewed by NOTUS, End Citizens United says Kim omitted trips to Israel, South Korea, San Antonio, New York City and Williamsburg, Va., from personal financial disclosure reports that federal lawmakers are required to file annually with Congress.
The American Israel Education Foundation spent $25,000 on Kim to travel to Israel in 2022, while the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress and The Korea Society footed a $19,000 bill for her travel to South Korea in 2024. Kim brought her husband on both trips, which included accommodations at five-star hotels.
“We have seen how private travel can be used with lawmakers or with justices or with others, to end up currying favor and to push a specific agenda,” Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, told NOTUS. “It’s critically important that we have that disclosure and transparency so we can more fully understand the picture of access and influence.”
The Orange County Register: Rep. Young Kim didn’t disclose all of her sponsored travel, complaint alleges
Rep. Young Kim has amended congressional financial reports after a complaint alleged she failed to disclose five sponsored trips since 2022.
“Congresswoman Kim didn’t just slip up once; she blatantly disregarded federal disclosure law five separate times, hiding the source of nearly $50,000 used to fund multiple trips, including business class flights and luxury hotel accommodations,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United. “These laws exist to protect the public by exposing conflicts of interest and preventing public officials from letting perks influence their votes.”
CalMatters: CA congressmember faces ethics accusation
The group, End Citizens United, has asked the Office of Congressional Conduct, an independent and nonpartisan entity, to launch a formal investigation into why the congressmember didn’t include several privately funded trips — some of which were international and cost five figures — in mandatory federal financial filings.
Members of Congress and staff are allowed to accept trips if they receive approval from the House Ethics Committee. But they must also report any of those trips that cost more than $480.
My News LA: Organization Files Complaint on Rep. Kim’s Travel Expenses
The complaint from End Citizens United was sent to the Office of Congressional Conduct. The organization said the congresswoman failed to report travel paid for by private interests in 2022, 2023 and last year.
“Between 2022 and 2024, Rep. Kim accepted multiple privately sponsored trips that were valued over the reporting threshold at the time,” End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller said in the complaint. “Yet Rep. Kim did not disclose any of the five trips above on her (personal financial disclosure statements). This is particularly egregious given that each of the letters issued by the Committee on Ethics approving her acceptance of the travel specifically reminded her to disclose these trips.”
CA Patch: OC Rep Failed To Disclose $50K In Trips, Complaint Alleges: Report
Rep. Young Kim reportedly amended congressional financial reports after a complaint accused her of failing to disclose five sponsored trips since 2022, The Orange County Register reported.
For comment on the complaint against Rep. Kim and the broader culture of corruption and ethics failures in Congress, ECU President Tiffany Muller is available for interview. To schedule, please contact Kolby Lee (kolbylee@endcitizensunited.org).
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For 10 Years, End Citizens United (ECU) has been dedicated to combating the two biggest challenges facing our democracy: the corrosive impact of Big Money in politics and attempts to block access to the ballot box. Since its founding in 2015, ECU has had over 1.4 million donors with an average donation of just $14. The group has more than four million members nationwide and is one of the nation’s leading anti-corruption organizations.