Rep. García Faces New Meddling Accusations Ahead of Midterms

House Ethics officials are being asked to weigh in on a bitter, Democratic battle to succeed Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois that is testing rules limiting Capitol Hill staff from campaign work.

García came under fire for seemingly handpicking his former chief of staff to be his successor, including being rebuked by the House earlier this year.

Now, an independent candidate running to succeed him is urging both the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct to investigate García and his staff for allegedly trying to prevent others from challenging his pick in Illinois’ 4th Congressional District, NOTUS has learned.

Lawmakers have previously been investigated for allegedly using congressional resources for campaign work: The House censured former Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York) in 2010 after the House Ethics Committee found he violated ethics rules by using congressional resources for political purposes. Also, the committee sanctioned former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) in 2019 for using congressional resources, including staff time and Hill office space, for political activities. She was forced to reimburse $7,576 to the government for the misused funds.

The House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct declined to comment for this story.

After García announced his retirement plans the same day as the candidate filing deadline, effectively clearing out the primary field for his chief of staff, Patty Garcia (no relation), several Democrats gathered signatures to appear on the ballot as independent candidates.

But now, people who circulated signatures for Patty Garcia are challenging the signatures gathered by two independent candidates — Mayra Macías and Byron Sigcho-Lopez — to remove them from the ballot in November. Manuel Díaz, a senior adviser for the Illinois congressman, is also helping in the effort to invalidate the signatures.

Macías, a former Democratic political operative, is urging the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct to investigate García and his staff for using official House time for political activity. Specifically, she alleges his staff used congressional resources, including staff time, to coordinate Patty Garcia’s candidacy and to challenge the independents running in the race, according to letters sent to each entity first shared with NOTUS.

“Not only is it unethical, but it is a disservice to the constituents of the 4th Congressional District, because there is a lot of need here that is not being met, and if a staffer is being used for political purposes instead of actually doing that casework that is so necessary in our community, voters need to know that,” Macías told NOTUS.

The House ethics manual prohibits the use of official House resources, including official congressional staff time, for campaign or political purposes. The manual allows House employees to engage in campaign activity on their own time when they “have completed their official duties.”

In her letters, Macías accuses Díaz, Patty Garcia and Chuy García’s district director, Adrian Calderon, of using official time to coordinate Patty Garcia’s candidacy before she resigned as García’s chief of staff on Oct. 31, just three days before she filed to run. Macías also alleges that Díaz used official time to challenge the independent candidates. Sigcho-Lopez, the other independent candidate, told NOTUS he supports Macías’ ethics investigation efforts.

In a statement to NOTUS, Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, a spokesperson for Chuy García, said that Díaz “is a part-time employee for Congressman García. Any unofficial activity was conducted on his personal time. No ethics rules were violated.”

Under Illinois state law, independent candidates are required to submit signatures from at least 5% of the total number of people who voted in the last general election in their congressional district to get on the ballot. That’s 10,816 signatures in Illinois’ 4th Congressional District.

Macías and Sigcho-Lopez each turned in over 17,000 signatures, but 10,000 for each candidate were challenged by three individuals: Sandra Mendez, Jeremy Rivera and Rene Munoz. Mendez and Rivera both gathered signatures for Patty Garcia, according to her candidacy paperwork, which was reviewed by NOTUS.

Patty Garcia’s campaign did not respond to NOTUS’ requests for comment, including questions about whether it had coordinated with the three objectors to challenge Macías and Sigcho-Lopez, or whether the candidate did political work during congressional work hours. Díaz, who is listed as a contact for Patty Garcia’s campaign, did not respond to requests for comment.

“It feels like an attack on democracy. It feels like an attack not only on my candidacy, it feels like an attack on our community right to decide who should represent them,” Sigcho-Lopez told NOTUS.

There are currently three independent candidates running in the district: Macías, Sigcho-Lopez and Lyons Mayor Chris Getty, whose signatures are not being challenged. Sigcho-Lopez said that challenging just him and Macías was intentional, arguing that they see the two Latino candidates “as a threat” to Patty Garcia’s “anointment” in a majority-Latino district.

Already, the House passed a symbolic resolution, led by Washington Democratic state Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, to disapprove of García’s stunt to favor Patty Garcia in a 236-183 vote. 23 Democrats voted for the measure.

Some of these Democrats said that the efforts to remove the independent candidates did not reflect well on García.

“His office should not be involved at all. I think it should be leave it for the voters,” Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada told NOTUS.

At an Illinois State Board of Elections hearing last month, Díaz, the congressman’s senior adviser, testified that he was involved in reviewing Macías’ signatures and gathered evidence to invalidate one of the signatures. However, Díaz declined to say whether he had taken time off from his official congressional work in order to conduct political work, according to a transcript of the hearing reviewed by NOTUS.

When asked if he was affiliated with the objectors challenging Macías’ signatures, Díaz said, “I am not. I am an employee of the U.S. House of Representatives.” Díaz worked as a notary for Patty Garcia, having certified her candidacy paperwork and signature petitions, which were reviewed by NOTUS.

Recalling the hearing, Macías told NOTUS that Díaz was being evasive and refused to clearly answer that he worked for García, simply stating that he worked at the House of Representatives. She said that her lawyers asked Díaz if he had taken time off from his congressional work, but Díaz “did not answer the question.”

Macías said Díaz’s attendance at the hearing, which is not considered official congressional work, should be investigated since it took place during regular work hours.

“He should not be doing political work on government time. That’s a Hatch Act violation,” Macías said, referring to the federal law that limits political activities of federal employees.

The Illinois State Board of Elections is expected to decide on July 14 whether Macías and Sigcho-Lopez stay on the ballot. Both Macías and Sigcho-Lopez said they’d consider legal challenges if they’re removed.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated who Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli works for. She is a spokesperson for Chuy Garcia.