Watchdog group seeks investigation into Inland Empire Congressman Ken Calvert

A liberal watchdog group is seeking an investigation into Inland Empire Rep. Ken Calvert, the longest-serving Republican in California’s congressional delegation.

The campaign finance reform group End Citizens United filed a complaint Tuesday with the Office of Congressional Ethics alleging that Calvert failed to disclose information about various rental properties that he owns in Riverside County.

The complaint follows a Times story on Calvert’s use of the legislative process known as earmarking to secure more than $100 million in taxpayer funds for his district, including more than $16 million for transportation projects within a few miles of his own rental properties.

“This is a meritless complaint from a far-left super PAC that’s endorsed Ken’s opponent, and worse — one that gets the facts wrong,” said Calvin Moore, a spokesman for Calvert’s reelection campaign.

A spokesman for End Citizens United said the group is a traditional non-connected political action committee that is allowed to make campaign contributions to candidates. Super PACs can spend unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates, but cannot give directly to their campaigns.

Questions over Calvert’s real estate investments have resurfaced as the longtime congressman faces off against Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor. California’s 41st Congressional District, which includes Corona and Palm Springs, is considered one of the country’s most competitive races.

The Times found that Calvert failed to disclose the purchase of an automotive repair center in Corona that he acquired in 2016, an omission that his office described as a clerical error. The property sits about a mile from a bridge that received $2 million in earmarked funds through Calvert’s office.

Calvert’s office said Calvert bought the property with his brothers for $2.25 million in September 2016 and had an 11% stake in the deal, valued at $247,000.

Moore said that Calvert “has always gone above and beyond to provide transparency in his financial disclosure statements.” Calvert filed six years of amended financial disclosures last week to disclose his purchase of the automotive repair center.

The complaint filed Tuesday also alleged that Calvert failed to report the purchase of two other properties, in Corona and Palm Springs. Jason Gagnon, a spokesman for Calvert’s office, said one property was disclosed properly and the other was a personal loan that Calvert disclosed “even though he was not required to do so.”

The Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent group with no subpoena power that reviews allegations against members of the House of Representatives and, in some cases, refers cases to the House Ethics Committee for further investigation.