I love the Texas Tribune but its headline that two MAGA congressmen, Dr. Ronnie Jackson and Wesley Hunt, were “cleared,” after a House Ethics Committee investigation into their campaign finance spending is a bit misleading, in my opinion.

For one thing, the committee found definite wrongdoing. It found “there was evidence that the member’s campaigns did not fully comply with campaign finance standards, as well as reporting or recordkeeping requirements for campaign spending,” the Tribune reported, via Raw Story.

The investigation began after the two Trump diehards were accused of using campaign funds for private club memberships. “Jackson spent nearly $12,000 since 2020 on membership at the Amarillo Club, and Hunt spent over $74,000 between April 2022 and January 2024 at the Post Oak Hotel, including membership fees at its exclusive Oak Room club,” the article said.

The expenses certainly look suspicious:

According to the ethics office report, the Amarillo Club declined to give information that could confirm Jackson used the club for strictly campaign reasons.

Hunt provided documents related to his Oak Room expenses, but they were heavily redacted, according to the office. He declined to sit for an interview by the office, but his lawyers said he did nothing wrong.

The two skated because, the committee said, “there was no evidence that any member intentionally misused campaign funds for their personal benefit.” As the old saying goes, the absence of evidence of guilt is not the same as evidence of innocence.

In fact, the last paragraph of the article suggests the committee smelled a rat, or in this case two rats, and issued what might be considered a warning:

The ethics committee also said the existing law and guidance from the Federal Election Commission is “often ambiguous” and provides gray areas of spending. The committee updated guidance on personal use of campaign funds and related recordkeeping requirements. In the statement, the committee said it provided relevant members with a copy of the updated guidance, as well as specific findings and recommendations for their campaign activity.