Career Politician Peter Roskam Has Made It Clear He Believes He is Above the Law

(Downers Grove, IL) October 29, 2018 – Today, the Casten for Congress campaign rolled out a digital ad, website, and mailer highlighting how Peter Roskam was investigated for improperly accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of foreign travel from the Taiwanese government, which “may have violated federal law and House rules,” — and how Roskam responded by attempting to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), which launched the investigation of him and referred the allegations to the Congressional Ethics Committee for further review.

“After 25 years as a career politician, Peter Roskam is trying desperately to hide his record so he can stay in Washington,” said Greg Bales, Campaign Manager for Sean Casten. “Peter Roskam is trying to hide how he votes 94% with Donald Trump, how he voted to gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions, how he wrote the tax giveaway to big corporations and the wealthy that added $2 trillion to the deficit, and how he has tried to cut Social Security and Medicare throughout his career and voted to turn Medicare into a voucher program.

“These attempts to rewrite history and hide his record aren’t new for Peter Roskam. After Peter Roskam was investigated for improperly accepting funds for foreign travel from the Taiwanese government, he retaliated against the Office of Congressional Ethics after they investigated him for it. Peter Roskam can’t run on his own record, so he’s trying to erase it and smear others.”

Sean has been open and honest about his record while Peter Roskam attempted to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics after they investigated whether he accepted “an impermissible gift,” from a foreign government that “may have violated federal law and House rules.” Roskam had reported the trip to Taiwan was paid for by the Chinese Culture University, which is located in Taiwan, but the investigation found that “the trip appears to have been organized and conducted by the government of Taiwan, with little to no involvement by the University.”

The investigation, which was closed in 2013, did not find Peter Roskam “blameless.” Rather, it was left “incomplete” because investigators were unable to obtain the information they needed to “due to uncooperative foreign officials.” The OCE concluded that “Representative Roskam knew, or should have known, that the government of Taiwan was organizing and conducting his trip,” which is impermissible under ethics rules.