Kyrsten Sinema could face ethics investigation for how she allegedly treats staffers

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More than a dozen activist groups have filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) for alleged misuse of her staff.

The complaint alleges that the Arizona senator used her staff to perform chores such as grocery shopping, fixing her home internet, booking her massages, and other menial tasks, the Hill reported. The allegations were made in December, when the Daily Beast obtained an alleged internal, 37-page memo detailing a number of eyebrow-raising requirements that staffers would need to keep up with. Sinema has denied the allegations, and questioned the authenticity of the memo.

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“The alleged information — sourced from anonymous quotes and a purported document I can’t verify — is not in line with official guidance from Sen. Sinema’s office and does not represent official policies of Sen. Sinema’s office,” Sinema spokeswoman Hannah Hurley told the Daily Beast.

“It has been reported — and is apparently substantiated by both written evidence and personal testimony — that the senator has enlisted staff to conduct a wide variety of activities unrelated to their job responsibilities,” the Feb. 2 complaint letter to Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Chris Coons (D-DE) and Vice Chairman Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) read.

“The activities that the senator has allegedly required of staff appear to be unambiguous violations of the Senate Ethics Committee guidelines that interpret the rules adopted by the Senate,” it added.

The complaint goes further than just alleging inappropriate use of staffers, however, arguing that certain portions of the memo suggest the illegal use of her senate staff for campaign work.

“Your committee’s guideline clearly states that ‘Senate staff are compensated for the purpose of assisting senators in their official legislative and representational duties, and not for the purpose of performing personal or other non-official activities for themselves or on behalf of others,’” it reads. “The Senate ethics manual recommends staffers keep time logs of their congressional duties if they also engage in campaign activity to avoid attacks or the perception of impropriety. We urge the committee to seek these records and investigate whether Sen. Sinema is directing staffers to perform political tasks while on Senate duty.”

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Whether the complaint will be acted upon is another matter.

“The Ethics Committee has a long history of burying these types of complaints,” Public Citizen congressional ethics expert Craig Holman told the Hill.

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