Ethics Complaint Filed Against Senator Shelby
The Campaign for Accountability, a Washington-based non-profit watchdog group, filed an ethics complaint Thursday against 14 members of Congress, including Alabama Senator Richard Shelby. The complaint says Shelby and others accepted campaign contributions from the payday lending industry while supporting industry-backed legislation.
The complaint asks the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether Shelby violated congressional rules or criminal law. The Campaign for Accountability cites an amendment Shelby offered in 2010 and a vote he took in 2015 as evidence he intended to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, something payday lenders wanted.
Daniel Stevens, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability, says Shelby received about $46,000 dollars from payday industry executives and PACs just a few weeks before the 2015 vote.
“They weren’t just giving it to Shelby because they like him,” says Stevens. “This industry contributes to Shelby’s campaign because they expect him to advocate for their priorities. In this case it seems to have worked.”
A spokeswoman for Shelby says he votes based on the substance of a policy and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous. She says the Senator has had long-standing concerns about the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Voting nears to a close in Texas primary that may be crucial to control of the Senate
The GOP and Democratic primaries mark a potential litmus test for what direction base voters want their parties to go ahead of midterm elections this fall that will determine power in Congress.
Pregnant migrant girls are being sent to a Texas shelter flagged as medically risky
Government officials and advocates for the children worry the goal is to concentrate them in Texas, where abortion is banned.
The 2026 World Cup faces big challenges with only 100 days to go
Will Iran compete? Will violence in Mexico flare up? And what about funding for host cities in the U.S.? With only 100 days left before it beings, the 2026 World Cup in North America is facing a lot of uncertainty.
A glimpse of Iran, through the eyes of its artists and journalists
Understanding one of the world's oldest civilizations can't be achieved through a single film or book. But recent works of literature, journalism, music and film by Iranians are a powerful starting point.
Mitski comes undone
She may be indie rock's queen of precisely rendered emotion, but on Mitski's latest album, Nothing's About to Happen to Me, warped perspectives, questionable motives and possible hauntings abound.
This quiet epic is the top-grossing Japanese live action film of all time
The Oscar-nominated Kokuho tells a compelling story about friendship, the weight of history and the torturous road to becoming a star in Japan's Kabuki theater.
