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Referral·Office of Congressional Ethicsreferral

OCE Referral Regarding Mr. John Sample

Published November 29, 202115 pages
View source PDFOriginal source

Briefing

The Office of Congressional Ethics found substantial reason to believe John Sample, a part-time staffer, may have owned a company (Invocq) that received at least $114,189 and that his office also paid $339,497.38 to Abernathy West for franked mail and printing. The OCE says Sample concealed his ownership, some charges appeared above market rates, and Sample and others refused to cooperate; it referred the matter to the House Committee on Ethics for further review and recommended subpoenas. The matter remains a referral for further review.

Allegations

  • John Sample may have been involved in and benefited from use of official funds to procure franked mail and printing services from companies owned or controlled by congressional staff members, including himself.
[high]
  • [medium]Invocq Technologies LLC, owned in part by John Sample, received $114,189 from Rep. Hagedorn’s MRA for printing and franked mail services.
  • [medium]Abernathy West LLC received $339,497.38 from Rep. Hagedorn’s MRA for printing and franked mail services and may be owned or controlled by the chief of staff’s brother.
  • [medium]Invocq and Abernathy West charged significantly more than fair market rates for franked mail services, including erroneous postage charges.
  • [high]John Sample concealed his ownership interest in Invocq while contracting decisions were made.
  • [low]Multiple individuals (including Sample, Rep. Hagedorn, Peter Su, Melissa Carr, and Blue Earth Graphics) refused to cooperate with the OCE review.

    • This summary is generated by AI from the official document. Read the source PDF for the authoritative text.