GOP seeks ethics probe of Ball by House of Representatives

By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 | Politics

First Congressional District GOP Chairman Tom Foley has officially requested an ethics investigation of Democratic Candidate for Congress, Krystal Ball, over her campaign finance reports from 2009 to 2010.

Ball, who originally reported a net worth of about $100,000 in 2009, has become a millionaire in the past year due, at least in part, to the liquidation of stock options in the educational software company she worked for, K-12, Inc.

Foley points out “substantial and serious omissions between what was reported, what is seemingly required by the published instructions, and Candidate Ball’s husband’s statement as reported in the April 21, 2010 Virginia Gazette.”

A statement released to the media goes onto say:

“Foley is puzzled at how a mysterious one to five million dollars appeared out of nowhere in a horrible market. This is not a game or some stunt he said. What we see here simply doesn’t happen overnight and there needs to be a detailed explanation of why it was not initially reported.

“Candidate Ball states that she will improve Congressional Ethics by increasing disclosure, Foley noted. Yet when it became time to disclose what amounts to between one and five million dollars worth of stock options, advice was sought on how to handle and, contrary to the committee’s published opinion to err on the side of disclosure, the options were not disclosed.”

Foley has also asked the First Congressional District Democratic committee to look into the matter as a matter of principle: “the bottom line for any District Committee Chairman is to uphold the integrity of the seat.”

The Ball campaign denies any wrong-doing and claims this is a politically-motivated “witch hunt.”

Tags: