Roger Williams-- The Personification Of Congressional Corruption

Who would you trust more, a used car dealer or a congressman?

A few years ago, the Texas Tribune published an investigative piece by the Center for Public Integrity's John Dunbar about one of Texas' most corrupt politicians, Congressman Roger Williams. "Buried within a massive federal transportation bill," wrote Dunbar, "is a little-noticed provision that is of great interest to automobile dealers. The man who offered the amendment is U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a second-generation car dealer... The provision, an amendment offered just before midnight on Nov. 11, would allow dealers to rent or loan out vehicles even if they are subject to safety recalls. Rental car companies, meanwhile, don’t get the same treatment under the proposed law. In essence, the amendment would allow an auto dealer to loan you a vehicle under active recall while you are getting your own fixed for the same defect. The man who offered the amendment is no stranger to car dealerships. In fact, that’s his business. U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, sponsored the amendment. In introducing it on the floor of the House, he noted, 'I am a second-generation auto dealer. I have been in the industry most of my life. I know it well.'"

Williams knows how to feather his own nest and seems to think doing that is the reason-- the only reason other than parroting Trump-- is why he's in Congress. Williams sits on the House Financial Services Committee, consistently serving the interests of the banksters over the interests of his own constituents-- or at cleats his own constituents who aren't banksters. Since being elected to Congress in 2012, Williams has taken a massive $3,012,716 from the finance sector his committee is supposed to be doing oversight of. Although Congress conveniently doesn't define Williams' outrageous behavior as criminal bribery, that's exactly what it is.

So far this cycle, Williams has raised $1,409,203 (compared to the $461,863 his Democratic opponent has raised). In the current cycle, over 77% of his contributions come from PACs and other political committees (including joint fundraising committees like Take Back the House and Take Back the House 2020 joint fundraising committees). Many of the PAC contributions come from the industry he's supposed to oversee-- the financial services industry (see example in screenshot below-- everything highlighted in yellow is a financials services-related PAC). In fact, by far, Williams' biggest source of "contributions" comes from the Finance Sector-- almost 4 times more than his next closest money source. Securities and Investment companies and executives, the insurance business, the real state business, commercial banks, the finance and credit card industry, payday lenders, etc have flooded his campaign with "contributions," absolute blatant bribery to a crook always eager to sell his votes.

Back to the Center for Public Intergrity investigation, Dunbar noted that "The possibility that his action might be considered a conflict of interest was apparently not on his mind, though it certainly occurred to others. 'It seems to me that if it isn’t illegal, if it isn’t an ethics violation, it ought to be,' said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a consumer group. 'His amendment benefits nobody but car dealers. And he’s a car dealer.'"

The rental car provision in the legislation, which is also in the Senate bill, was spurred by the deaths of Raechel and Jacqueline Houck, ages 24 and 20. The two sisters were killed in 2004 while driving a rented, recalled vehicle that caught fire and crashed head-on into a semi, according to consumer groups that have backed the rental car proposal.

Williams’ amendment would make the act apply only to companies whose “primary” business is renting cars, which would effectively exclude dealerships. No such provision exists in the Senate bill.

The amendment received little attention in the press, which may have been due to the late hour it was offered.

...“It was the House floor, almost midnight, there was hardly anyone there,” said Shahan. It passed on a voice vote.

Speaking in favor of the amendment on the floor that night was another auto dealer, Rep. Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican who sells Chevrolets, Cadillacs, Hyundais and KIAs.

  ...Williams is chairman of Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM SRT in Weatherford. In his remarks on the House floor, Williams said the bill was bad for small businesses.

“Vehicles would be grounded for weeks or months for such minor compliance matters as an airbag warning sticker that might peel off the sun visor or an incorrect phone number printed in the owner’s manual,” he said.

Democratic Rep. Lois Capps of California didn’t agree with that reasoning, however.

“This is ridiculous. NHTSA (National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration) does not issue frivolous recalls,” she said. “All safety recalls pose serious safety risks and should be fixed as soon as possible.”

Members use the House “Code of Conduct” in guiding their actions. One section appears to be relevant. A member can’t receive compensation “the receipt of which would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from the position of such individual in Congress.”

The House ethics manual states that “whenever a member is considering taking any such action on a matter that may affect his or her personal financial interests,” he or she should contact the House Ethics Committee for guidance.

It’s not clear whether Williams did that or not. A spokesman for the House Ethics Committee declined comment.

So why dredge this up again now? Well, yesterday there were two related pieces in Politico pointing to Williams' continuing corruption. One, Members of Congress took small-business loans — and the full extent is unknown, featured a photo of him at the top of the page. A Politico team reported that "At least four members of Congress have reaped benefits in some way from the half-trillion-dollar small-business loan program they helped create. And no one knows how many more there could be." The first crook mentioned, of course, was Williams who they described as "a wealthy businessman who owns auto dealerships, body shops and car washes." The other three are all conservatives, Republican Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, whose family owns multiple farms and equipment suppliers across the Midwest and two New Dems, Susie Lee (NV), whose husband is CEO of a regional casino developer, and Debbie Mucarsel Powell (FL), whose husband is a senior executive at a restaurant chain that has since returned the loan.

Democrats have tried to pry free the list of recipients. But their push in the House to require disclosure of at least some companies was blocked on the floor late last month by Republicans-- including Williams and Hartzler, who voted against the bill. Lee and Powell joined all Democrats in supporting it. All four lawmakers have previously voted in favor of the small-business program.

...While it is not illegal for lawmakers to apply for or accept the money, it has raised new questions about lawmakers’ potential conflicts of interest as they craft the next coronavirus rescue package as well as the administration’s fierce secrecy of the $670 billion program. The program already faced intense scrutiny over charges it was helping the well-connected after reports revealed that large corporations were among the first to be awarded loans, while the smallest businesses were stuck in line.

...Much of the scrutiny surrounding lawmakers taking PPP loans has centered on Williams, one of the wealthiest members of Congress with a net worth of over $27 million in 2018. He received a PPP loan for an undisclosed amount for his Roger Williams Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership in Weatherford, Texas. The same dealership employs his wife, according to his most recent financial disclosure form.

“If you’re a multimillionaire taking taxpayer money in the middle of the biggest unemployment since the Great Depression, get ready to explain that decision to the American people,” said Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) as she introduced new transparency legislation last month and called out Williams by name in a news release.

No one expected a crook like Williams to work with the 38 House Republicans who joined every single Democrat to pass the Truth Act transparency amendment. Just the concepts of "Truth" and "transparency" are, to Williams, like a cross is to a vampire. 4 Texas Republicans voted against Williams: Chip Roy, Dan Crenshaw, Michael McCaul and Will Hurd.

Kyle Cheney and Zach Warmbrodt wrote the second piece yesterday, Inspectors general ask Congress for help in monitoring coronavirus relief payments, which isn't specifically about Williams, just general GOP corruption in the same matter. "Federal watchdogs," they reported, "are asking lawmakers for help after Trump administration legal rulings appeared to sharply limit their ability to monitor more than $1 trillion in coronavirus relief programs-- including huge payouts to protect businesses threatened by the pandemic. In a two-page letter to several House and Senate committees last week, but disclosed for the first time on Monday, the inspectors general responsible for coronavirus relief oversight said an “ambiguity” in the main coronavirus response law-- the CARES Act-- allowed administration officials to sharply limit how much of the law’s spending requirements they must collect and report. This narrow interpretation of the law, the inspectors general warn, would dramatically impede their ability to gather information about some of the most expansive programs in the law, from the $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program to the $454 billion Treasury fund to protect businesses and industries damaged by the outbreak. The legal opinions are the latest squeeze put on inspectors general by the Trump administration, which has gradually chipped away at the ability of internal watchdogs to monitor aspects of the administration’s conduct independently."

As you may know, Blue America has endorsed Julie Oliver, who won her primary handily and is now taking on Williams in this gerrymandered Texas district that includes all or parts of 13 counties and snakes down from the GOP-leaning suburbs south of Ft. Worth into the heart of progressive Austin and down into Texas Hill Country. It was drawn by Tom DeLay to always send Republicans to Congress. But last year, Julie ran up big victories in Travis and Bell counties and made significant inroads in Hays and Coryell, closing to red/blue gap by 12 points. Her campaign increased Democratic vote share by an astounding 211% and she has just 9 more points to go. I might add that in 2018 her campaign’s data team piloted a targeted voter registration program that was instrumental in flipping 3 Republican-held Texas state House seats, and even as they take on Williams they are still focused on building the coordinated campaign to defend those seats. Please consider giving Julie a hand by clicking on the Blue America 2020 congressional thermometer on the right.