He has also been reprimanded by the House Ethics Committee. Ethics panel: Young misused funds

Longtime Alaska Rep. Don Young improperly used campaign funds for personal use, accepted “impermissible” gifts and failed to report those gifts, the House Ethics Committee announced Friday.

Young , a Republican, has to repay nearly $60,000 to his campaign, and donors, the Ethics Committee said. He has also been reproved by the committee.


The Ethics Committee said that Young, who has represented Alaska in the House since 1973, accepted improper “gifts and expenses related to” 15 hunting trips. The trips occurred between 2001 and 2013, the Ethics Committee said.

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Eight trips that Young took were improperly paid for, or were paid for by his campaign improperly. Young also did not disclose any of these gifts on his financial disclosure.

There are relatively stringent rules dictating gifts members of Congress can receive, and how a member of Congress can use his campaign funds. Members of Congress cannot accept gifts from entities that employ lobbyists, and can only accept gifts that are worth less than $50. All gifts must be disclosed.

Members of Congress cannot use campaign money for their own use.

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This probe into Young started in 2010, when he requested that the Ethics Committee look into gifts that were also under investigation by the Justice Department. The Ethics Committee created an investigative subcommittee to probe allegedly improper gifts to Young, including 22 trips that “Young, his family, and his staff took to hunting lodges between 2003 and 2007, as well as several non-trip gifts.” The subcommittee found three other trips, as early as 2001 and as late as 2013.