The House Ethics Committee publicly acknowledged for the first time on Tuesday that it was examining whether Rep. Tom malinowskiThomas (Tom) MalinowskiDemocratic lawmakers urge DHS to let Afghans stay in US Lindsey Graham: “I think Joe Biden deserves to be impeached” Rubio on withdrawal from Afghanistan: “Real deadline is not the 31 “PLUS (DN.J.), one of the most vulnerable House Democrats heading into next year’s mid-terms, has broken ethics rules and federal law.

Two ethical complaints were filed against Malinowski earlier this year after Business Insider reported that it failed to disclose stock transactions worth at least $ 671,000 in violation of a federal law designed to prevent insider trading by members of Congress. The Associated Press also found that Malinowski had bought or sold up to $ 1 million in shares in medical and technology companies with an interest in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malinowski has since acknowledged the omissions, telling the AP that it was “a mistake that I own 100%”. It has also since placed its assets in a blind trust.

The ethics committee has not opened a formal investigation into Malinowski, but instead examines a report from the Congressional Ethics Office (OCE), an independent body that investigates allegations of misconduct and then refers to the panel .

Only the House Ethics Committee, which is made up of an even number of Democrats and Republicans, can formally punish lawmakers found guilty of wrongdoing.

“Representative Malinowski continues to participate in good faith in this routine process and remains committed to ensuring full transparency with the public; going above and beyond the demands of members of Congress by placing his holdings in a qualified blind trust committee approved. ethics, ”Malinowski’s office said. in a report.

Malinowski, who has been in the House since 2019, was narrowly reelected last year against his GOP challenger by just over a point. Malinowski ousted his district from a longtime Republican president in the 2018 midterm election, in which Democrats won a majority in the House.

The House Ethics Committee also announced on Tuesday that it was extending reviews of potential misconduct by three other lawmakers: Reps. Mike KellyGeorge (Mike) Joseph Kelly The World of Lobbying The World of Lobbying Liz Cheney says McConnell and McCarthy run GOP MORE (R-Pa.), Jim HagedornMinnesota congressman James Lee Hagedorn announces kidney cancer has resurfaced (R-Minn.) And Alex mooneyAlexander (Alex) Xavier Mooney14 Republicans vote against resolution condemning Myanmar military coup Republicans block 25th Amendment resolution to topple Trump House to vote on Trump’s impeachment Wednesday MORE (RW.Va.).

Roll Call reported last month that an OCE report revealed that Mooney had spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds on personal expenses, including meals and family trips to resorts in Virginia. West, and had incorrectly reported more than $ 40,000 in expenses.

Mooney repaid his campaign more than $ 12,000 after the OCE began its investigation.

Hagedorn, meanwhile, has come under scrutiny for free use of a campaign desk provided by a political donor. Politico reported last year that Hagedorn listed an office building as his campaign headquarters, but election expense records show no payment for the use of the space.

The Minnesota Reformer, a nonprofit news organization, also reported that Hagedorn’s office paid more than $ 100,000 in public funds to a Texas-based printing press owned by one of its staff.

And the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last year that Kelly had urged the Trump administration to investigate foreign steel imports that threatened a steel plant in his district where his wife had bought between $ 15,000 and $ 50,000 in stock.

The ethics committee stressed that its disclosures of extending reviews to each of the four lawmakers did not necessarily implicate any of them in wrongdoing.

“The Committee notes that the mere fact of a dismissal or extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such extension and the name of the subject matter of the case, does not in itself indicate that a violation has occurred. took place, nor does it reflect a judgment on behalf of the committee ”, chairman of the House ethics committee Ted deutchTheodore (Ted) Eliot DeutchSenat The president of Intel swears “tough but necessary questions” about the collapse of Afghanistan. (D-Fla.) And Rep. Jackie WalorskiJacqueline (Jackie) R. Walorski Republicans hit Biden over Afghanistan, with eye on GOP midterm Banks veto Pelosi Stefanik swiftly shakes committee posts MORE (Ind.), The top Republican on the panel, said in joint statements about Malinowski, Kelly, Hagedorn and Mooney.