The campaign for Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) spent $540 at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia. The former psychiatric hospital is now marketed as a historic and paranormal tourist attraction. (AP Photo/David Smith)
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On Sept. 1, the campaign for Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.V.) spent $540 on event tickets at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. The 160-year-old former hospital for the mentally ill in Weston, West Virginia now offers historic and paranormal tours.
The expense was a legitimate use of donors’ money, according to a campaign spokesperson. “The congressman’s official staff had a meeting, and they went to the asylum as part of that meeting,” Mark Harris said in a statement. “The campaign is allowed to cover these sorts of official office-related activities.”
An expert in campaign finance, attorney Brett Kappel of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, confirmed that such an expense could be legitimate.
Mooney has come under fire previously for using campaign funds in suspicious ways. In July 2021, the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics referred Mooney to the House Committee on Ethics after finding “substantial reason to believe” Mooney used campaign money for personal expenses. According to the office’s report, Mooney’s campaign failed to disclose more than $40,000 in expenditures, covered expenses for two visits to resorts with family members and made 220 disbursements for $25 or less at food vendors in West Virginia, totaling $3,500.
In an interview with the Office of Congressional Ethics, Mooney shared his rationale for when it is appropriate to bill his campaign for a meal:
OCE: When do you charge the campaign for a meal?
Rep. Mooney: Generally when I’m visiting with constituents.
OCE: Okay. So for—when you say visiting with constituents, what do you mean? Do you mean a planned meeting?
Rep. Mooney: Not necessarily, no, as I described earlier a lot of site visits I do, I just walk in and say “hi.”
. . .
OCE: So if you—lets say you go to Chick-Fil-A and you charge that to the campaign, the justification for that, being that there are constituents at the Chik-Fil-A that you spoke to?
Rep. Mooney: Yes. Yeah, I was meeting with constituents
Mooney has denied any wrongdoing. He is also facing a second investigation by the House Committee on Ethics, though the focus of that probe has not been made public.
In May, Mooney bested a fellow incumbent in the GOP primary, and he is a lock to win a fifth term next week, according to the data outlet Five Thirty Eight.