Watchdog Files Ethics Complaint Against Warnock Alleging Undisclosed Church Income

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) walks out of the Senate Chambers during a series of votes in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on May 11, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

An ethics complaint filed on Sept. 5 alleges that Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) failed to disclose in the required timely manner $125,000 in deferred compensation he received for work completed prior to his 2020 Senate election.

“Sen. Warnock’s apparent violation of federal law and Senate ethics rules is disturbing and extremely troubling. As he reported, either Sen. Warnock and his church had a deferred compensation agreement that both have conspicuously failed to report the existence of for years, or he received outside income of over four times the legal limit,” said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), in a statement made available to The Epoch Times.

“In either case, this would be a major breach of Senate ethics laws that must immediately be investigated by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. The applicable laws and rules are clear, and the people he serves deserve to know what occurred here,” Ms. Arnold continued.

Ms. Arnold’s group is a non-profit foundation that describes itself as “dedicated to promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas by hanging a lantern over public officials who put their own interests over the interests of the public good.”

A spokesman for the Georgia Democrat did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.

The FACT complaint was filed with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, which is co-chaired by Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.). The ethics panel does not comment publicly on newly filed complaints, and it may not make public any final disposition.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) (L) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) (R) announce they have found common ground and propose the bipartisan Charitable Act enhancing tax deductions on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 1, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

At the center of the FACT complaint is a payment Mr. Warnock received from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta for work he had done as senior pastor of the congregation prior to being elected to the Senate in a special runoff election in 2021. His election, along with that of another Georgia Democrat, Sen. Jon Ossoff, in the same special runoff election, was key to Democrats retaking the Senate majority for the first time since 2014.

“According to Senator Warnock’s 2022 financial disclosure report, he received $154,895 from Ebenezer Baptist Church, which included $125,000 described as ‘deferred compensation for services before January 20, 2021.’ Curiously, this was the first time Sen. Warnock reported the $125,000 that was claimed to be earned before he was sworn in as a U.S. Senator. Similarly, Ebenezer Baptist Church reportedly also failed to report the liability of 2 $125,000 in its prior financial statements for calendar years 2020 and 2021,” the FACT complaint alleged.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) (C) walks with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) (L) and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) (R) to a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 11, 2021. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

According to FACT, Mr. Warnock appears to have violated one or more federal laws and Senate ethics rules, covering timely disclosure and restrictions on the total amount of compensation a senator can receive over and above the current $179,000 annual Senate salary.

“Federal law and Senate ethics rules require Senate candidates and senators to disclose their financial information to the public. As part of these disclosures, each Senator must disclose ‘deferred compensation’ plans, and the ‘parties, dates, and terms of the agreement must be reported,’” the complaint said. Mr. Warnock has not previously included the Ebenezer deferred compensation on public disclosures either prior to winning election or since.

Regarding the income limit, the complaint explained that the Senate Ethics manual provides that “federal law and Senate rules restrict the amount and source of outside income that Members, officers, and employees of the Senate may accept. These limits represent an attempt to preclude conflicts between the narrow interests of private employers and the broader interests of the general public.”

The maximum outside income allowed in 2022 was $29,895.

Ebenezer is a nationally significant congregation of more than 6,000 members, having been founded in 1886 with nine members. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the senior pastor from 1960 until his assassination in 1968. Mr. Warnock pastored Ebenezer from 2005 until 2021.