How a former Congressman is gaming the system

On January 3, 2025, Congressman Alex Mooney (R-WV) ended his tenure in Congress after representing the Mountain State for a decade. On February 27, Mooney participated in a webinar with the Christian Employers Alliance (CEA), a business group "whose policy positions are prayerfully established directly by its members, grounded in faith and guided by Scripture."

In a recording of the webinar obtained by Popular Information and Source Code, CEA President Margaret Iuculano said that Mooney had joined the lobbying firm Capitol South. According to Iuculano, Mooney and Capitol South founder Marty Irby would soon be "lobbyists representing Christian Employers Alliance on the Hill as we finalize our legislative agenda."

One issue with the narrative presented by Iuculano is that federal law prohibits a former member of the House of Representatives from lobbying Congress, directly or indirectly, for one year. Violators may be subject to up to one year of incarceration and a fine of up to $50,000.

After Iuculano's introduction, Mooney did not offer any clarifications about his role. Instead, he delivered a defense of lobbying. "The term lobbyist is not a bad word," Moody said. "We, you know, it's a respectable line of work."

After Mooney and Irby introduced themselves, they fielded questions from CEA members. At one point during the discussion, Mooney shared that he had recently spoken to a current Republican member of Congress about legislative issues, including the budget.

At the 55-minute mark, Iuculano said that she knew she needed to wrap up the event because Mooney and Irby had another engagement. "I definitely want to be respectful of yours and Marty's time," Iuculano said. "I know you guys are on the Hill and very busy today."

Mooney did not respond to a request for comment.

In a text message, Irby confirmed that he had hired Mooney as "a consultant to our firm on issues related strictly to Agriculture and the Farm Bill, more specifically the EATS Act." Irby said that CEA "contacted us about hiring our firm earlier this year," but "did not follow through on hiring our firm."

Despite Iuculano's comments during the webinar, Irby said that Mooney "has never accompanied me to any Congressional meeting to speak to members or staff." Irby acknowledged that Mooney is "clearly not allowed to lobby Congress due to the 1 year rule." Instead, Irby said, Mooney has "merely consulted [with] us on strategy."

According to Irby, Mooney's work for Capital South included writing an op-ed about farm policy in the Daily Caller. The piece does not disclose Mooney's relationship with Capital South but identifies him "as a Senior Advisor at Competitive Markets Action, Inc," a non-profit also run by Irby.

Lobbying firms hiring former members of Congress as "consultants" is a popular way to evade lobbying bans. The CEA webinar illustrates that this distinction is not always made clear when a lobbying firm is wooing new clients.

This is a lucrative practice. A 2023 study by researchers at the University of Warwick looked at "the role of ex-Congressional officials who join US lobbying firms in positions that could be related to lobbying activity but without officially registering as lobbyists themselves." The study found that "firm lobbying revenues increase significantly when these potential ‘shadow lobbyists’ join, with effects in the range of 10-20%."

A large majority of the public believes there should be more restrictions on lobbying by former members of Congress. A 2022 survey by the University of Maryland found that 65% of voters, including 65% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats, believe the ban on lobbying by former House members should be increased from one year to five years.

There have been some efforts to strengthen the rules. In 2020, former Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA) introduced legislation that would require lobbying firms to publicly disclose the involvement of people like Mooney who provide "strategic lobbying services" but are not lobbyists. It never received a vote.

Last week, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Congressman Joe Neguse (D-CO) introduced legislation that would "impose a lifetime ban on former Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists." In a statement, Ocasio-Cortez said the current system "erodes the faith and integrity of our lawmaking and cuts against the principle that our service here puts Americans first ahead of our own careers and ambitions."

Mooney's history of stretching ethical boundaries

As a Congressman, Mooney also faced allegations that he crossed legal and ethical boundaries for his personal benefit.

A December 17, 2021, report by the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) found that "there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Mooney accepted impermissible gifts in the form of a trip to Aruba and free lodging and event space…used official resources for campaign work and personal errands…[and] withheld, concealed, or falsified information during the OCE’s investigation." According to the report, Mooney "may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law."

The investigation "established" that "Mooney and his family enjoyed a vacation to the Ritz-Carlton in Aruba, paid for by HSP Direct, LLC, a company to which… Mooney has significant financial and personal ties." Meanwhile, "Mooney routinely diverted official resources and staff time away from his constituents and official duties in favor of his and his family’s personal needs and sometimes for campaign activities." Further, "evidence and testimony indicate that… Mooney may have offered false testimony and altered his calendar in order to conceal wrongdoing."

Specifically, Mooney "reported at least $17,250 in gift card expenditures to the FEC but provided no details about the ultimate recipient of those funds and maintained almost no underlying documentation for those expenditures." Mooney claimed that the gift cards were only used for campaign expenses, but "[e]vidence reviewed in the instant case indicates that this testimony was false."

Ultimately, both Mooney and HSP Direct "refused to cooperate with the OCE’s review."

On December 30, 2024, days before Mooney left office, the House Committee on Ethics issued a release suggesting that "the Member’s campaign did not fully comply with the applicable standards relating to personal use of campaign funds, as well as reporting or recordkeeping requirements for campaign expenditures." But, nevertheless, it had decided to "take no further action" and considered the matter "closed."