I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 329 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a criminal penalty for 

certain Federal officers and employees using their public office for private 

gain, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

Mr. TED LIEU of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a criminal 

penalty for certain Federal officers and employees using 

their public office for private gain, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for Gov5 ernment Officials Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) During his time as Administrator of the 

2 Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt faced 

3 more than 12 separate ethics investigations includ4 ing by the Environmental Protection Agency Inspec5 tor General, the Committee on Oversight and Gov6 ernment Reform of the House of Representatives, 

7 the Executive Office of the President, the Govern8 ment Accountability Office, and the U.S. Office of 

9 Special Counsel. 

10 (2) On October 2, 2017, the Department of the 

11 Interior’s Inspector General confirmed they were in12 vestigating Secretary Ryan Zinke’s taxpayer-funded 

13 flights, including $12,375 on a chartered flight from 

14 Las Vegas to Montana where he spoke to a hockey 

15 team that is owned by one of Secretary Zinke’s larg16 est political donors. 

17 (3) On March 14, 2018, CNN reported that 

18 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben 

19 Carson knew about a dining set worth $31,000 that 

20 was ordered for Carson’s office, knowledge of which 

21 he had previously denied. 

22 (4) On March 20, 2018, it was publicly re23 ported that Scott Pruitt secured a sub-market lease 

24 for a Washington, DC, condominium owned by the 

25 wife of a lobbyist who represented clients with matVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H329.IH H329

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1 ters pending before the Environmental Protection 

2 Agency, and told the Washington Examiner that he 

3 was ‘‘dumbfounded that that’s controversial’’. 

4 (5) On April 4, 2018, the New York Times re5 ported that Scott Pruitt used a loophole in the Safe 

6 Water Drinking Act to give raises to his aides that 

7 had been explicitly denied by the White House. 

8 (6) On April 16, 2018, the Washington Post re9 ported that Scott Pruitt had spent nearly 

10 $3,000,000 of taxpayer funds on security and travel 

11 since taking office in February 2017. 

12 (7) On April 26, 2018, Politico reported that 

13 Scott Pruitt spent over $105,000 of taxpayer funds 

14 on first-class flights, citing since-debunked threats to 

15 his personal security. 

16 (8) On June 5, 2018, the Washington Post re17 ported that Scott Pruitt used official channels to 

18 pressure Chick-fil-A Chief Executive Officer Dan 

19 Cathy into securing a restaurant franchise for his 

20 wife. 

21 (9) On June 6, 2018, the Washington Post re22 ported that Scott Pruitt forced aides to help him se23 cure a used ‘‘Trump Home Luxury Plush Euro Pil24 low Top’’. 


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1 (10) On June 8, 2018, the Washington Post re2 ported that Scott Pruitt forced his security detail to 

3 help him acquire high-end hand lotion and to pick 

4 up his dry cleaning. 

5 (11) On July 2, 2018, the Washington Post re6 ported that Scott Pruitt recruited a staff member to 

7 help his wife find a job, the salary for which he stip8 ulated should be no less than $200,000. 

9 (12) On July 5, 2018, Scott Pruitt resigned 

10 amid myriad scandals and massive public pressure. 

11 (13) On July 13, 2018, Forbes reported on Wil12 bur Ross’ massive conflicts of interest, including 

13 having taken meetings with a trade association 

14 whose members included a car manufacturer whose 

15 investors included Ross himself. The same report 

16 noted that Wilbur Ross took meetings with compa17 nies whose investors included his wife. 

18 (14) On July 13, 2018, The New York Times 

19 reported that Tom Price repeatedly violated govern20 ment travel rules, wasting at least $314,000 of tax21 payer funds by using chartered jets and military air 

22 travel instead of commercially available flights. 


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1 SEC. 3. USE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PRIVATE GAIN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 93 of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 1925. Use of public office for private gain 

6 ‘‘(a) USE FOR PRIVATE GAIN.—Whoever, being a 

7 covered Federal officer or employee, uses his public office 

8 for— 

9 ‘‘(1) his own private gain; 

10 ‘‘(2) the endorsement of any product, service or 

11 enterprise; or 

12 ‘‘(3) the private gain of a friend, relative, or a 

13 person with whom the covered Federal officer or em14 ployee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity, 

15 including a nonprofit organization of which the cov16 ered Federal officer or employee is an officer or 

17 member, and a person with whom the employee has 

18 or seeks employment or business relations, 

19 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

20 one year, or in the case of a willful violation, not more 

21 than 5 years, or both. 

22 ‘‘(b) COERCION.—Whoever, being a covered Federal 

23 officer or employee, uses or permits the use of his Govern24 ment position or title or any authority associated with his 

25 public office in a manner that is intended to coerce or in26 duce another person, including a subordinate, to provide 


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1 any benefit, financial or otherwise, to himself or to a 

2 friend, relative, or person with whom the covered Federal 

3 officer or employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental ca4 pacity, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 

5 than one year, or in the case of a willful violation, not 

6 more than 5 years, or both. 

7 ‘‘(c) COVERED FEDERAL OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE.— 

8 For purposes of this section, the term ‘covered Federal 

9 officer or employee’ means any of the following officers 

10 or employees of the Federal Government: 

11 ‘‘(1) Assistant to the President for National Se12 curity Affairs. 

13 ‘‘(2) Assistant to the President and Chief of 

14 Staff. 

15 ‘‘(3) Assistant to the President and Deputy 

16 Chief of Staff. 

17 ‘‘(4) Assistant to the President and Deputy 

18 Chief of Staff for Communications (or Director of 

19 Communications). 

20 ‘‘(5) Assistant to the President and Press Sec21 retary. 

22 ‘‘(6) Senior Advisor to the President. 

23 ‘‘(7) Assistant to the President and Staff Sec24 retary. 


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1 ‘‘(8) Assistant to the President for Homeland 

2 Security and Counterterrorism. 

3 ‘‘(9) Assistant to the President and Counselor 

4 to the President. 

5 ‘‘(10) Director of the National Economic Coun6 cil. 

7 ‘‘(11) Director of the Domestic Policy Council. 

8 ‘‘(12) Assistant to the President and Chief of 

9 Staff or Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President. 

10 ‘‘(13) Special Assistant to the President and 

11 Director of Communications for the Vice President. 

12 ‘‘(14) Press Secretary to the Vice President. 

13 ‘‘(15) Senior Advisor to the Vice President. 

14 ‘‘(16) Deputy Assistant to the President and 

15 National Security Advisor or Deputy National Secu16 rity Advisor to the Vice President. 

17 ‘‘(17) Deputy Assistant to the President and 

18 Counselor to the Vice President. 

19 ‘‘(18) Assistant to the President and White 

20 House Counsel. 

21 ‘‘(19) Director of the Office of Management 

22 and Budget. 

23 ‘‘(20) Any officer or employee whose appoint24 ment is made by the President by and with the ad25 vice and consent of the Senate.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for chapter 93 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

3 by inserting after the item related to section 1924 the fol4 lowing: 

‘‘1925. Use of public office for private gain.’’. 

Æ 


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