This week, the House Ethics Subcommittee unanimously voted to dismiss one of two complaints against Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman, marking his second dismissed ethics complaint in two years.
The latest ethics complaint accused the far-right legislator of using state resources to promote and encourage donations to the 2022 “Freedom Convoy” — a protest that took place on the U.S.-Canada border over COVID-19 mandates and evolved into a movement that encapsulated many fringe ideas.
The panel conducted an investigation, finding that he didn’t use any state resources for the purpose.
“The committee found no evidence that Representative Eastman’s legislative social media account contained language advocating donations to the Freedom Convoy,” explains the report, noting that his official account is a Facebook page entitled “Office of Representative David Eastman.”
Eastman tweeted out his participation in a Juneau offshoot of the movement on Jan. 29, 2022, from his “Rep. David Eastman” Twitter/X account, but that account’s bio notes it’s his personal page. The ethics decision explains there is “no documented evidence Representative Eastman used government assets or resources, such as legislative staff, to maintain his personal social media accounts.”
Typically, legislative ethics proceedings are secretive, with the committee typically only disclosing decisions that find a violation has occurred. In this case, however, Eastman waived his right to confidentiality so the issues could be discussed publicly.
He has complained that the process isn’t transparent and has maintained that he has done nothing wrong.
Last year, another ethics complaint was dismissed against Eastman. That complaint accused him of using state resources to improperly help a conservative anti-abortion activist’s lobbying activities in Juneau. In that case, the investigation found the alleged behavior — allowing the activist to wait in his office — didn’t violate the state’s ethics rules.
It should be noted that in these cases, Eastman has not exactly been forthcoming with investigators. Both last year’s ethics complaint and this year’s ethics complaint dragged on because investigators had difficulty contacting Eastman. Eastman claims he would have responded but that the messages went to unmonitored inboxes.
The decision leaves one known complaint against Eastman pending.
That complaint accuses Eastman of violating ethics rules by fundraising for a previously existing legal defense fund during the legislative session. Legislators are barred from fundraising while in session. That fundraising effort stems from a case challenging Eastman’s eligibility to hold elected office over his membership of the Oath Keepers militia group, whose leadership has been convicted of seditious conspiracy for their involvement in Jan. 6.
Eastman was present in Washington, D.C., but there’s no evidence that he entered the U.S. Capitol building.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.