ECU Requests Ethics Investigation Into Senator Marshall’s Egregious Misuse of Taxpayer Money

End Citizens United (ECU), a leading national anti-corruption organization, today submitted a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee requesting an investigation into Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS).

The complaint, which was first reported by the Kansas Reflector, centers on an established pattern of Senator Marshall using taxpayer-funded staff, travel, and official resources to bankroll his political campaigns and personal travel that appears to be in violation of federal law and Senate ethics rules.

Building on an investigation by the Kansas Reflector and MS NOW, the complaint details how Marshall billed taxpayers for trips tied to political fundraising in New York, travel to his beachfront vacation home in Florida, and even a trip to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The complaint also alleges that Senator Marshall has continued to exploit taxpayer-funded staff to run his reelection campaign, which has spent millions of dollars without reporting payroll expenditures.

“While Kansans are working hard to make ends meet, Roger Marshall seems to think public office comes with an unlimited expense account courtesy of the American taxpayer,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “The sheer arrogance of thinking he can simply declare a personal or campaign activity as official business to justify sticking taxpayers with the bill is astounding. This is one of the most egregious examples of government waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. We urge the Senate Ethics Committee to immediately investigate. Senator Marshall crossed a line, and he must face the consequences.”

The Complaint:

Use of Official Funds for Travel When Primary Purpose Was Political 

• Senator Marshall appears to be using federally appropriated funds for travel that is primarily political. The Senate Ethics Manual is clear: “[t]he primary purpose of a trip must of course be official in nature to justify the use of official funds for the airfare.” Travel that combines official and campaign activity must be prorated “based on an evaluation of the number, nature, length, and efforts dedicated to the various events.”
  
  

• Senator Marshall’s office knew these rules. When his chief of staff was asked by staff whether the primary purpose of a trip was official or campaign, he wrote, “Primary purpose is what we say it is.” Primary purpose is not “what we say it is”; if the primary purpose of travel is not official, the Senate Ethics Manual requires Senator Marshall’s political committees (or Senator Marshall personally) to pay their fair share for travel. 
  
  

• The primary purpose of Senator Marshall and his official staff’s New York trips, with payments from his political committees to fancy New York City steakhouses and a flurry of maximum contributions from New York City-based donors, appears to be campaign activity. The only public activities that appear to be official are cable television appearances. Yet, Senator Marshall and his official staff spent nearly $23,000 in official funds – at rates that appear in part to exceed the federal government’s standard rates – for their travel to and per diem in New York City. Again, these dates coincided with what appeared to be New York City fundraisers, including one hosted by AIPAC. Senator Marshall’s political committees received $119,900 in contributions during his two trips.
  
  

• It is unclear whether there was any official, let alone a legitimate campaign, purpose when Senator Marshall and his official staff spent nearly $4,000 to travel to New Orleans during the Sugar Bowl. It would be highly unusual for Senator Marshall to engage in any official activity during the holiday period, and the record contains no evidence of any official activity in New Orleans.

Senator Marshall’s Official Staff Appeared to Be Performing Campaign Work, Without Receiving a Campaign Salary

• Senator Marshall’s campaign has reported no payments for campaign staff during an expensive and hotly contested Senate race. Instead, it appears that Senate employees are performing campaign work, often with official resources, in violation of federal law.
  
  

• If official staff engage in campaign activity “for any ‘extended’ period or to any ‘substantial’ degree,” Senate Ethics recommends “that the Member either remove the staffer from the Senate payroll for that period and compensate the staffer with campaign funds, or reduce the staffer’s compensation from public funds commensurately with the reduction in official duties of the staffer during his time of increased campaign activities.” There is no evidence this has occurred.
  
  

• The responsible Senator “has the responsibility to ensure” that any overlap between official resources and campaign activities is de minimis in nature. Yet, Senator Marshall personally directed official staff to perform campaign work using official resources beyond a de minimis amount. In 2020, then-Representative Marshall summoned his congressional staff to a “MANDATORY ALL-STAFF CALL.” On the call, then-Representative Marshall discussed campaign strategy while many of these staffers were using taxpayer-funded equipment – the conduct was so concerning that staff contemporaneously documented their objection to their perceived violation of Senate Ethics rules.
  
  

• This behavior has continued: Senator Marshall appears to have official staff conduct an “extended” and “substantial” amount of campaign activities. Payton Fuller, Senator Marshall’s taxpayer-funded Senate Communications Director, is also reportedly an “unpaid campaign volunteer spokeswoman,” who answered a press inquiry sent to the campaign from her campaign email account which she signed as “communications director for Senator Roger Marshall.” Serving as the “volunteer” communications director for Senator Marshall’s campaign in the weeks before the election is likely an “extended” and/or “substantial” amount of time. The Committee should investigate whether Ms. Fuller’s official compensation was reduced and whether her campaign work has been performed during Senate time or with Senate resources.

Click here to read the full complaint.

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For 11 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.