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August 21st, 2025

NOTUS: Democratic Group Files Ethics Complaint Against Rep. Rob Bresnahan Over Private Helicopter Disclosure

Dave Levinthal

08/20/2025

Key Points:

  • A Democratic political action committee and advocacy group alleged in a complaint to congressional ethics officials that Rep. Rob Bresnahan potentially violated federal law by failing to publicly disclose details of a private helicopter as part of his latest personal financial disclosure report to Congress.

  • The group, End Citizens United, is asking the independent, nonpartisan Office of Congressional Conduct to “immediately investigate” Bresnahan, a freshman Republican from Pennsylvania, for not expressly listing the helicopter when he filed his public 2024 financial disclosures last week, according to a complaint obtained by NOTUS on Wednesday.

  • End Citizens United also asked the office to determine whether Bresnahan has used his helicopter for political campaign purposes — something that would generally necessitate publicly reporting any trips as in-kind campaign contributions.

  • NOTUS first reported the existence of Bresnahan’s 2024 Robinson R66 helicopter, which Bresnahan’s office confirmed he purchased last year through his LLC. The model of Bresnahan’s helicopter retails for between $1 million and $1.5 million.

  • The helicopter has made more than two dozen flights originating from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area in the heart of Bresnahan’s Pennsylvania District 8, among the state’s poorest, according to a NOTUS analysis of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast data, which in part helps air traffic controllers determine the location of aircraft.

  • Several trips took the helicopter outside of Pennsylvania to New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, the data indicate
    .

  • Bresnahan appears to have made efforts to conceal his helicopter purchase and usage. For example, when searching the comings and goings of Bresnahan’s helicopter on popular flight tracking website FlightAware, users are met with the message: “This aircraft (N422RB) is not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator.”

  • Bresnahan is “showing clear patterns of shady and corrupt behavior,” End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller told NOTUS in accusing the congressman of “hiding a million-dollar helicopter” and “becoming one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress.” 

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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.