The Justice Department, on Wednesday, announced eight counts of indictment of a former congressman's chief of staff. He has been charged with using congressional funds to pay a campaign consultant.
According to ABC NEWS, the Justice Department declared the eight-count indictment of David G. Bowser of Arlington, Virginia. The prosecutors did not point out the former congressman for whom Bowser worked.
However, he had been chief of staff to a Georgia Republican, Paul Broun. Prosecutors accused that Bowser hired a campaign consultant, Brett O'Donnell.
He paid the campaign consultant nearly $44,000 in congressional funds. The famed Republican debate coach, Brett O'Donnell, pleaded guilty last September in an ethics case involving Broun, as claimed by the Dailymail UK.
The announcement came seven months after the GOP strategist and debate coach, Brett O'Donnell, pleaded guilty as he lied to the investigators about his relationship with Broun's office.
O'Donnell listed Bowser as "Person A" and Broun as "Congressman A" in his plea. The details of an Office of Congressional Ethics investigation pointed out that the two men were related to O'Donnell's listing. Bowser was noted in the plea for telling O'Donnell that the Office of Congressional Ethics can go "f-k themselves" and that the consultant should falsely maintain that he was a volunteer debate coach for Broun's campaign, as reported by AJC.
The lawsuit has marked the first time an individual has been charged with lying to the Office of Congressional Ethics, a quasi-independent body that refers cases to the member-run U.S. House Ethics Committee. Broun also expressed his disappointment about the accusations and added that he is "not aware of any ethical violations by my staff at any time."
Bowser was also charged with obstructing a congressional investigation into the misuse of funds. He was also indicted for making false statements.
Meanwhile, it is still not clear whether Bowser has hired an attorney. A telephone listing for Bowser has also not been found yet.
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