Let’s be clear. That soldier betting on polymarket is going to do way more time than Rep. Swalwell

Released to newspapers 4/24/2026

Courage is being better

My dinner table discussions shift out of gridlock very fast. As household of two, split evenly between conservative and liberal, a single dinner guest with a partisan political point of view immediately provides a two-thirds majority.

That’s enough to impeach!

Earlier this week, a conservative majority at dinner took on ethics and gerrymandering. The minority position was that “Democrats are better.” Given the events of the last four months alone, that might not be a difficult conclusion to arrive at.

But is it true? The U.S. House of Representatives is undergoing significant attrition from resignations and deaths, and four evenly distributed 2026 scandals. Additionally, more than 12% of Congressional members are opting not to run for reelection, the highest number since 1992.

Two Republicans and two Democrats have come under fire in recent months for egregious ethics violations. This month, Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Tony Gonzales (R-Tex.) and Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) all resigned under allegations of significant misconduct.

Swalwell, until recently a candidate in the California governor’s race, faces multiple accusations of sexual assault. 

Gonzales suspended his reelection campaign and resigned after an alleged affair with one of his married congressional aides came to light. The aide killed herself by setting herself on fire. Gonzales is also married.

Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in November for stealing $5 million FEMA disaster funds intended for Covid vaccination programs and funneling them to her campaign fund. She resigned minutes before the House Ethics Committee was set to hear her testify this month.

Still remaining in office is Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) who is under a court restraining order at the request one of Florida’s state Republican Party state committee women after he allegedly threatened to release sexually explicit photos of her (i.e., “revenge porn”).

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) seems more interested in clinging to his shrinking mini-majority in the House than maintaining the dignity of the chamber. Responding to calls to oust Gonzales – a married man at the center of a truly grisly scandal – Johnson replied, “If the accusation of someone is going to be the litmus test for someone being able to serve in the House you’ll have a lot of people would have to resign or be removed or be expelled from Congress.”

Seems like setting yourself on fire is one hell of a litmus test, Mr. Speaker. Or taking out a restraining order.

As to Swalwell and Cherfilus-McCormick, Democrats seem to be taking comfort that those individuals had the good grace to resign. Swalwell resigned within days of his accusations being made public, although the alleged acts date back to 2018. Cherfilus-McCormick did not resign until five months after her indictment, and three years after the House Ethics Committee launched its investigation.

Is that really a moral high ground? 

There is a movement in the House to reform the House Ethics Committee, and one of its leading voices is Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. “We needed to protect the women staffers here,” Leger Fernández is quoted in The Hill this week. “They needed to see that powerful men would be punished for sexually abusing women. Because it doesn’t happen. Because we could not complain that we’re not holding Trump accountable if we don’t hold our own accountable.”

Leger Fernández states that the current Ethics Committee process takes too long and is vulnerable to loopholes. She and other Democrats calling for reform are more consistently being joined by Republicans.

For their part, lawmakers on the House Ethics Committee maintain that their probes must be diligent and precise and the issues are complex. One gets the sense that there might be a backlog.

On April 20, the Ethics Committee took the unprecedented step of releasing a statement and a list of 28 sexual misconduct cases it has investigated since 1976. 11 resulted in resignations or “loss of jurisdiction”; 7 resulted in public reports with findings of sexual misconduct, 10 resulted in public reports with findings of no sexual misconduct.

Last week, I wrote a recap of 2026 highlighting activities of the executive branch, which included laundry list of ethical lapses. I’d like to add one data point from this week. An Army active duty member was charged this week for netting more than $400,000 on the prediction market Polymarket for roughly $33,000 in bets placed on whether Nicolas Maduro would remain in office. The soldier was apparently involved in the operational planning of the quick-hit strike to remove Maduro and his wife from Venezuela.

According to the Washington Examiner, the President complained that the “world is becoming a casino” when asked by journalist at the White House about the soldier’s indictment. Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, is an eight-figure investor in Polymarket, and serves on its advisory board.

In our polarized climate, it’s very easy to declare moral superiority over whoever is in office and smile benignly at the poor rubes supporting the current regime. Here’s an idea: Be better. Really better.

Follow the example of the women in Congress, support them, and throw the creepsters out. Immediately.

Stop, for real, betting on ceasefires, regime changes, and shut down prediction markets for good.

Support non-incumbent candidates who promote ethics in their platform.

Because being incrementally less awful just isn’t good enough.

Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.