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ICYMI: Where’s J.R. Majewski Getting His Money?

August 8, 2022

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Business Insider reports that radical QAnon conspiracist J.R. Majewski is breaking federal law by refusing to file his personal financial disclosure forms, raising questions about where Majewski gets his money and what he might be trying to hide. Majewski’s failure to file this most basic paperwork only reinforces the unseriousness of his campaign. Voters in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District deserve better.

“Majewski, who is running against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur to represent Ohio’s newly re-drawn 9th Congressional District, is more than a year late in revealing information about his personal income, investments, debts, employment, and any side jobs, according to an Insider analysis of congressional records,” writes Dave Levinthal for Insider.

Read more on Majewski missing key financial disclosures here and below:

  • Republican J.R. Majewski, a Donald Trump-endorsed candidate in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional races, is violating a federal conflicts-of-interest and public transparency law by failing to disclose details about his personal finances.
  • Majewski, who is running against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur to represent Ohio’s newly re-drawn 9th Congressional District, is more than a year late in revealing information about his personal income, investments, debts, employment, and any side jobs, according to an Insider analysis of congressional records.
  • Federal law requires all congressional candidates to file a certified financial disclosure with the US House shortly after raising or spending $5,000 in campaign cash, according to House ethics guidelines and federal law.
  • But Majewski, who’s been running for Congress since February 25, 2021, surpassed this threshold sometime before June 30, 2021, according to FEC records.
  • A congressional candidate who “knowingly and willfully falsifies a statement or fails to file a statement” disclosing his or her personal finances may be subject to investigation by the Department of Justice.
  • While such investigations are rare, the maximum civil penalty for such an offense is $66,190 while the maximum criminal penalty is one year in federal prison plus a fine of up to the same amount, according to the federal Ethics in Government Act.
  • Reached by phone Wednesday, J.R. Majewski for Congress campaign treasurer Sean Tarnowski declined to comment and referred questions to campaign staff.
  • Majewski’s spokesperson, Melissa Pelletier, said by phone Thursday she’d “do my best” to answer several questions Insider had sent the Majewski campaign. Pelletier did not respond to subsequent phone and email messages.
  • Majewski listed “honesty,” integrity” and “the ability to communicate” among the characteristics or principles most important for an elected official, according to a Ballotpedia candidate survey.
  • He also indicated in various statements and tweets that he supports transparency and following rules.
  • Majewski, however, has not provided a detailed, certified, public accounting of where he’s earned his money, and when, or how he invests his money. 
  • Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, said all congressional candidates should follow the law about personal financial disclosures — especially in a race as close as the one for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.
  • “It allows voters to consider the statements the candidates make, it allows voters to consider any conflicts of interest,” Turcer said. “Transparency allows voters to be educated … and to know what each of the candidates are all about and how responsible they are.”

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