Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is facing a potential ethics investigation after a watchdog found he funneled money to a conservation group his wife works for.
Whitehouse’s spouse, Sandra Thornton Whitehouse, is the president of Ocean Wonks LLC — a consulting firm that works with the environmental nonprofit Ocean Conservancy.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee Monday, alleging that Whitehouse backed legislation that resulted in Ocean Conservancy receiving millions of dollars in grants.
‘Senator Whitehouse advocated and voted for legislation that led to $6.9 million of taxpayer funds being paid to an organization that his wife works for and receives an income from,’ said FACT executive director Kendra Arnold.
According to the complaint, Sandra Whitehouse has worked for Ocean Conservancy since 2008.
Tax filings show that the nonprofit has paid her $2.6 million directly or through her consulting firm since 2010, National Review reported.
Whitehouse is a progressive and a strong advocate for climate change action and environmental protection. Since 2012, he has spoken on the Senate floor about climate change every week.
He is also known for his efforts to remove ‘dark money’ from politics, specifically targeting ‘right-wing billionaires’ that use undisclosed spending to ‘thwart climate action,’ according to his office’s website.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is facing a potential ethics investigation after a watchdog found he funneled money to a conservation group his wife works for
Speaking about Whitehouse’s alleged conflict of interest, Arnold said: ‘It is this type of circular relationship between a Senator and an organization that lobbies and pays his wife a salary that the public is rightfully fed up with.
‘Congressional rules are in place to ensure our taxpayer dollars are going to serve our nation and that our Senators are not behaving in a manner that would call this into question,’ she told National Review.
Indeed, lawmakers are prohibited from using official actions to obtain financial benefits for themselves or their spouse, according to Senate ethics rules.
Since 2008, Ocean Conservancy has received more than $14 million from 19 government grants, nearly half of which was received within the last year.
Whitehouse voted for two pieces of legislation that ultimately passed and awarded a combined $6.9 million to Ocean Conservancy.
The first was a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant of $5.2 million awarded in September. The funds were allocated from the bipartisan infrastructure law instated by the Biden administration in 2024.
The second was a $1.7 million grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency in December, which was pulled from congressionally appropriated funds.
Both grants were awarded to support Ocean Conservancy’s marine debris cleanup efforts.
Whitehouse’s spouse, Sandra Thornton Whitehouse, is the president of Ocean Wonks LLC — a consulting firm that works with the environmental nonprofit Ocean Conservancy
Tax filings show that Ocean Conservancy has paid her $2.6 million directly or through her consulting firm since 2010, National Review reported
In addition to the questionable ethics of Whitehouse backing these two grants, the FACT complaint alleges that he has pushed for legislation that supports the missions of Ocean Conservancy and other environmental organizations with ties to his wife.
‘While these two grants alone appear to be a conflict of interest, it is even more egregious in the context of Senator Whitehouse’s long history of working on legislation being lobbied for by organizations tied to his wife,’ the complaint states.
‘Ocean Conservancy urged Congress to pass the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act — legislation first introduced by Senator Whitehouse in 2023.
‘Ocean Conservancy also advocated and secured billions in funding for coastal restoration projects in the Inflation Reduction Act.
‘Senator Whitehouse not only voted for that legislation, but touted $3 billion in grant funding for ports and coastal restoration among the ‘Whitehouse-backed measures in the bill.”
In response to a request for comment, Ocean Conservancy directed DailyMail.com to a statement published on their website Tuesday.
‘No one wants to see our beautiful American beaches littered with trash,’ said Jeff Watters, Ocean Conservancy’s Vice President of External Affairs.
‘What we do — what we have done successfully for over 40 years via the International Coastal Cleanup — is straightforward and common-sense: we clean up trash from our beaches, our waterways, and our ocean. This is not controversial. It is not partisan. And it should not be political.’
Watters’ statement goes on to say that Ocean Conservancy will use these bipartisan federal funds to continue to remove ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash’ from US beaches and waterways.
‘Dr. Sandra Whitehouse, a well-respected marine ecologist and ocean policy consultant, has not received compensation from these federal grants allocated to Ocean Conservancy,’ he said.
The statement also points to a similar ethics complaint that was filed to the Senate Ethics Committee one year ago and but was dismissed last August.
DailyMail.com has also reached out to the office of Sen. Whitehouse for comment.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .