Indiana GOP Files Ethics Complaint Against Donnelly

The Indiana Republican Party filed an ethics complaint Monday against U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.).

The complaint objects to video footage Donnelly’s office released of his meeting with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Donnelly’s office posted 42 seconds of silent footage on YouTube from his meeting last week with Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Indiana television stations used it in their coverage.

But the Indiana GOP’s complaint says the video has “no conceivable official purpose.” And it alleges the senator’s office posted it for use by campaign organizations.

If campaign organizations do use the video, Donnelly campaign spokesperson Will Baskin-Gerwitz acknowledges, it would be an ethics violation. But even the GOP says neither the campaign nor an outside group has used the footage.

In a statement, Baskin-Gerwitz calls the ethics complaint a “nakedly political stunt.”