Andrews has denied doing anything improper or unethical. Andrews ethics case advances

The House Ethics Committee announced Tuesday it is considering whether to open a full-scale investigation of Rep. Rob Andrews use of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to cover personal expenses, a serious blow to the political fortunes of the New Jersey Democrat.

Reps. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), the chairman and ranking member of the Ethics Committee, said in a statement that they will take until Aug. 31 to decide whether to create a special investigative subcommittee to look into the allegations against Andrews.


This comes after a recommendation from the Office of Congressional Ethics — the independent ethics watchdog — to open a full probe into Andrews.

Under its rules, after OCE refers a case for a full investigation, the Ethics Committee has 45 days to decide to establish an investigative subcommittee. It can postpone that deadline for another 45 days, but at the end of that initial period, the secretive panel must release a public statement that a case is under review.

If the Ethics Committee decides not to authorize a special investigative subcommittee, the OCE report is released in its entirety.

Andrews spent more than $9,000 in campaign donations on a wedding trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, in June 2011 that was first reported by the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger.

Lawmakers are prohibited from using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses.

Andrews’ campaign also shelled out $10,000 that month for a celebration that combined his 20th anniversary in Congress with his daughter’s high-school graduation.

Andrews’ campaign has also donated more than $100,000 to Philadelphia-area theaters in which one of his daughters, Josie, performed. And according to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Andrews has “directed $8,700 in political donations and $1.5 million in federal earmarks to his wife’s employer, the Rutgers Law School in Camden, where she is associate dean of enrollment.”

Based on the Star-Ledger’s initial reporting, CREW filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in November.

But it was not clear until now that OCE — and possibly the Ethics Committee — would wade into the case.

Andrews has denied doing anything improper or unethical. He has reimbursed his campaign $13,000 and donated an identical amount to a charity for homeless veterans.

He has also hired Stan Brand, an ethics expert, to handle his legal affairs. Andrews’ campaign has paid Brand’s firm more than $100,000, according to the latest disclosure reports.

Andrews released a statement that read in part: “In the course of my service, I have always followed every rule and standard. Last November, the Republican Party’s local chairman issued a press release announcing that he had forwarded to the House Ethics committee a series of accusations against me and my family. These accusations are totally and categorically false. Such attacks on anyone’s children and families, who are not public figures, should have no place in our political discourse.

“None of these accusations involve the use of taxpayer or government money. Our campaign’s public disclosures show that every dollar of our campaign funds was properly spent and fully disclosed.”