House Ethics Committee: New Mexico’s Lujan, Texas’ Williams In The Clear

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., center, thanks House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., right, after she announced he will take over as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., left, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Nov. 17, 2014.
FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2014 file photo, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Badly outnumbered by House Republicans, Democrats seem likely to bolster their numbe... FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2014 file photo, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Badly outnumbered by House Republicans, Democrats seem likely to bolster their numbers in November. Yet while gaining the 30 seats they’d need to capture the chamber’s majority isn’t completely implausible, it appears highly unlikely. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) MORE LESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee has cleared Democratic and Republican lawmakers in separate inquiries.

The panel said Tuesday it is dropping investigations against Democrat Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and Republican Roger Williams of Texas.

Lujan, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was accused of using the House chamber to raise money for campaign purposes during a June 2016 sit-in on gun control.

Williams, an auto dealer, was accused of a conflict of interest in offering a 2015 amendment that would have benefited auto dealers.

The ethics panel said neither Lujan nor Williams violated House rules, but cautioned that both acted in ways where mistakes are possible.

A spokesman for Lujan called the complaint politically motivated and without merit.

A spokeswoman for Williams could not immediately be reached.

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