Two years late, Rep. Ortiz finally discloses China trip details

Ortiz had filed pre-travel paperwork with the House ethics committee which cleared all the trips, but he had not filed the required post-trip disclosures until after LegiStorm highlighted the travel. Ortiz had listed the trips on his personal financial disclosures but these lack the detail of post-trip forms.

The jaunts to China were paid for by the Robstown Improvement Development Corp., a development authority for his hometown. Roll Call followed up LegiStorm's story and found that Ortiz had also secured more than $5 million in funding for the organization's Robstown Trade Processing and Inland Center. The development authority listed the purpose of Ortiz's trips as promotion of the trade center.

Ortiz filed the paperwork at the end of February for the three trips. The earliest took place in March 2008, another in June 2008 and the third in April 2009. The development authority also paid for Ortiz to travel to China in January, a trip that he disclosed a few days after returning.

Ortiz told Roll Call that he initially did not believe he was required to file disclosures for the trips because they were sponsored by a municipal entity. But he nonetheless had gone to the trouble of requesting authorization for the trips from the House ethics committee. The committee granted approval for the trips but then warned: "You must complete a Member Travel Disclosure Form and file it with the Clerk of the House within 15 days after your return from travel." That never happened, thereby keeping the details of the trips out of the public record.

Roll Call had previously highlighted Ortiz trips to China that blurred personal and public interests, such as trips taken to help companies owned by a businessman with whom Ortiz had financial dealings.

Posted via email from Global Politics