Merkley’s Ethical violations raise questions…Again

SALEM, Ore. - Jeff Merkley has been caught again dodging ethics rules.  Following in Rep. Charlie Rangel's footsteps, Jeff Merkley repeatedly failed to disclose rental income he's received from his 12 properties across Oregon.

Oregon law requires that legislators file an annual financial disclosure (Statements of Economic Interest) with the Government Standards & Practices Commission.  Filing a financial disclosure is mandatory, and can carry a fine of up to $1,000 for each instance for falsified information.  These requirements apply to all state legislators, but apparently between 2003 and 2006, Jeff Merkley decided these laws did not apply to him. 

For three straight years, 2003, 2004, and 2005, Jeff Merkley failed to disclose any income from his rental property business, a business reported to produce more than $100,000 per year for Merkley.  In 2006, Merkley even denied ownership of the rental property business, despite Secretary of State records which show the opposite.  This isn't the first time Jeff Merkley has excused himself from ethics rules for financial gain, but if he hid this income from the IRS as he did from the State Ethics Commission, he may not get off as easy this time.  Jeff Merkley has a lot of explaining to do.    

• 2002: Jeff Merkley filed his rental property management business, the "Sequoia Group," with the Secretary of State.  (Oregon Secretary of State's Office, 2002)

• 2003:  Merkley acknowledged he ran the Sequoia Group, but did not report any income from his 10 rental properties. (Merkley's filed Statement of Economic Interest, 2003)

• 2004 and 2005 looked a lot like his 2003 report.  Merkley was still doing business under his property rental company - but amazingly, Jeff Merkley still had no income to report from his now 12 rental units. (Merkley's filed Statement of Economic Interest, 2004, 2005)

• 2006:  Suddenly, Jeff Merkley denies operating the Sequoia Group, despite Secretary of State records which show he still operated the business.  He then reported between 10 and 49 percent of his income was coming from the Sequoia Group rental property business, the business which he simultaneously denied even operating.  (Merkley's filed Statement of Economic Interest, 2006)  According to Willamette Week, the income from his rental property business was over $100,000 per year.  (September 12, 2007)

Rep. Charlie Rangel, financier and supporter of Jeff Merkley, is at the center of a major political scandal and under investigation for failing to report income from his one rental property.  If Members of Congress and news organizations across the country are calling for Rangel to step down for failing to report the earnings from his one rental property, how is Jeff Merkley going to explain not disclosing his income from his 12 rental properties?   Rangel has also admitted to failing to pay thousands in taxes on the rental income he received.  Jeff Merkley failed to disclose his rental income to the state legislature; did he also hide it from the IRS?

By the way, Jeff, don't you think it's about time you give back the ethically-tainted cash you received from Charlie Rangel?

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