The House Ethics Committee is expanding a probe of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush’s personal and political finances, an inquiry that follows a BGA/Chicago Sun-Times investigation.

The Dec. 2013 BGA/Sun-Times investigation examined Rush’s campaign spending, his personal finances and nonprofit organizations that he started.


READ MORE: A Rush Of Financial Questions

A months-long BGA/Chicago Sun-Times investigation of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) is raising serious questions about his personal and professional finances — and whose interests are really being served by him in Congress.


In a statement, the Ethics Committee today said it was extending its inquiry of Rush, which began earlier this year with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The Ethics Committee statement added that an extension of the Rush investigation does “not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.”

The OCE is a fact-finding office and referred the Rush matter to the Ethics Committee after determining there was a “substantial reason” to believe there was a violation.

The Ethics Committee, which investigates allegations of lawmaker misconduct, plans to announce a “course of action in this matter” on or before Nov.10, according to the Ethics Committee statement.

Rush’s attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times in April that he thought the ethics probe was triggered by the BGA/Sun-Times stories.

U.S. Rep. Rush took office in January 1993. He was unavailable for comment on this story.

Rush, in a statement, said today that the committee’s announcement meant more time was needed for the panel to make a “substantive determination.”

“I am hopeful that the Ethics Committee will approach this in a manner that takes into account the cooperation I have shown from the outset, and my willingness to adhere to any guidance that House Ethics has made, or will make, available to me,” the statement read.

Rush, in the statement, said he will continue to work on issues in his district, including high unemployment, violent crime and school closings, until the matter is resolved.