From AP News…
A nonpartisan watchdog group asked Tuesday that officials determine if a New Jersey congressman violated House ethics rules when he notified a bank board member that an employee had joined a group critical of him and President Donald Trump’s policies.
The Campaign for Accountability asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee.
Saily Avelenda says Frelinghuysen included a handwritten note on a letter to a Lakeland Bank board member that said a “ringleader” of the protest movement worked there. Avelenda says she wasn’t asked to resign but was uncomfortable about being confronted over her outside activities and ended up quitting her job.
Frelinghuysen’s campaign office has said he wrote a “brief and innocuous note.”
Avelenda is part of the group NJ 11th For Change, which refers to Frelinghuysen’s district number. The group has criticized Frelinghuysen for not holding in-person town hall meetings to discuss issues, including the Republican-crafted health care plan.