The House Ethics Committee will continue its review of Rep. Roger Williams over allegations he used his position to benefit himself. | AP Photo House ethics panel will continue review of Rep. Roger Williams

The House Ethics Committee on Thursday released new details about allegations that Rep. Roger Williams used his position to privately benefit himself and a car dealership he owns in Weatherford, Texas.

The panel announced it will continue its ongoing review of the potential conflict-of-interest referral made by the Office of Congressional Ethics in mid-May. At the crux of the matter is an amendment the Texas Republican tacked onto the highway bill last fall that essentially exempted auto dealers from a prohibition in the bill on renting vehicles subject to safety recalls.


William's amendment limited the provision — included in the must-pass legislation after two Californian sisters died in a crashed rental car under recall — to companies that are “primarily” engaged in the car rental business. That means car dealerships that happen to rent cars as well as sell and fix them — like William's company did at the time — could continue the practice.

“If Representative Williams improperly took official action on a matter in which he had a personal financial interest, then he may have violated House rules and standards of conduct regarding conflicts of interest,” the OCE referral, released Thursday, reads.

The Ethics panel has yet to determine whether it will convene an investigative subcommittee on the matter, the next step should they find merit in an full-fledged probe.

“In order to gather additional information necessary to complete its review, the committee will review the matter,” Chairman Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) said in a Thursday statement. “The Committee notes that the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee.”

Williams and Roger Williams Auto Mall in a joint response to the Ethics panel said the allegations are based on “nothing more than misguided assumptions and an exceptionally rigid and impractical application of the ethics rules governing members.”

“When Rep. Williams offered his amendment… he did so ethically, without any improper motivations and without any desire or possible effect of personal gain,” the documents reads.

In November, when the controversy first arose, Williams in a statement suggested there was nothing wrong with him using his personal knowledge of the car industry to legislate.

“Unless a Member is a career politician . . . they have probably had at least one job,” he said. “Should those Members excuse themselves from engaging in debate that affects the industries or sectors they know best? In my opinion, absolutely not. Are members of Congress who are doctors engaged in conflicts of interest when they vote on Medicare, Medicaid or NIH funding? Are Members of Congress who are involved in real estate engaged in conflicts of interest when they vote on public housing or tax credits"

Critics say it's another matter, however, when a member personally benefits.

According to the OCE report, William's company, which works with Chrysler, Dodge and Ram vehicles, offers rental cars to customers getting their cars repaired. Neither Williams nor the company would tell the OCE how much of their business, worth any where between $25 million and $50 million according to 2014 financial disclosure reports, centered on rental cars, according to the referral.

Should Ethics pursue the matter, it could become headache for Williams, who has made no secret of his aspirations to succeed Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) as NRCC chairman. He’s already squaring off with Ohio Republican Steve Stivers, who’s favored for the position, but this could complicate matters.

Heather Caygle contributed to this report.