Cory Booker (Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
Sen. Cory Booker's (D., N.J.) marathon 25-hour speech last week broke a Senate speaking record. But his fundraising off that speech broke long-standing Senate ethics rules, a watchdog group alleged in a complaint filed Tuesday.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), an ethics watchdog nonprofit organization, alleged that Booker violated ethics rules by using his record-breaking speech for campaign purposes. In a complaint filed Tuesday with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, the watchdog group highlighted a series of campaign messages Booker sent to his supporters during and after his record-breaking performance on the Senate floor, including messages asking followers to "stand with Cory" during his speech by signing up for his email list and others that solicited contributions for Booker and the DNC from anyone "inspired" by his historic showing.
Booker's use of his record-breaking Senate speech to raise money for his campaign is a clear violation of long-standing ethics rules that prohibit lawmakers from using their official position for campaign purposes, FACT said in its complaint. If Booker's violation goes unpunished, the group warned, the Senate floor "will increasingly be seen as a campaign venue and treated as such."
"It is clear that Senator Booker's Senate floor speech had a campaign purpose," the watchdog group said in its complaint. "During his speech, he sent a series of emails that campaigned and sought valuable supporter information and campaign contributions based on his Senate floor speech. Immediately after his speech, Booker sent an email that requested donations for his campaign and the DNC if the recipient liked what they saw him do on the Senate floor. There is no more direct of a tie between an official action and campaign solicitation."
The Senate's ethics rules "do not allow what is clearly performance art on the Senate floor for future political gain, whether that be for list-building or fundraising," FACT executive director Kendra Arnold told the Washington Free Beacon. "I hope the Senate Ethics Committee will take action on this case and others like it to discourage other senators from fundraising off official actions and to maintain citizens' confidence in Congress."
Booker received widespread praise from the press and Democrats for his 25-hour floor speech, not so much for what he said than for the length of time he spent on the Senate floor without taking a break. Political pollster Frank Luntz said that Booker "may have changed the course of political history" with his speech and that the New Jersey senator's performance makes him the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
But Booker's speech wasn't a filibuster in the traditional sense because it didn't obstruct any legislation. He spent much of his 25-hour performance railing against the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce and reading accounts from his constituents who say they've been harmed by the administration's "reckless actions."
Booker remained on the Senate floor for the entirety of the speech without taking a break to use the bathroom, a feat he accomplished without the use of a catheter or a diaper, NPR reported. He fasted for three days prior to starting his marathon speech, according to Politico.
"The body is weary in a lot of places, from my back to my feet and to my legs, I'm just feeling it," Booker told NPR after his speech. "But my soul is soaring and I feel very blessed by the whole experience."
Booker's office did not return a request for comment.
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