The U.S. House Ethics Committee identified on Friday the four members of Congress who will oversee the ongoing investigation into alleged campaign and office misspending by Rep. David Schweikert.

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., will chair the investigative subcommittee examining the Schweikert matter and Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, is the ranking Republican.

The other two members of the subcommittee are Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and John Katko, R-N.Y.

For more than a year now, the subcommittee has been reviewing allegations that Schweikert, R-Ariz., may have authorized improper payments from his office budget to Oliver Schwab, his former chief of staff and that the campaign made improper expenses.

The case has already cost Schweikert hundreds of thousands in legal fees and dragged out since late 2017.

A spokeswoman for Schweikert declined to comment on the committee's staffing decision. In the past, he has downplayed the investigation, suggesting it was a bookkeeping discrepancy.

Democrats, who see his Scottsdale-based 6th Congressional District as within their reach next year, see it differently.

"The rampant corruption and legal problems surrounding Congressman Schweikert jeopardize his ability to do the job hardworking Arizonans elected him to do and embody exactly what voters hate about Washington. That’s why these issues are going to cost him this seat next year," said Brooke Goren, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Ethics cases often drag out for months and even years.

Last month the Ethics Committee revealed that its unanimous decision last year to investigate Schweikert had "substantial reason" to believe he improperly billed campaign expenses to his congressional office.

"Schweikert’s campaign committees may have accepted contributions from an individual

who was employed in Rep. Schweikert’s congressional office, in the form of individual outlays that later were reimbursed by the campaign committees," the committee's 2018 report said.

That could flout House rules and federal law, the committee noted.

Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.

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