Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics will establish a panel to investigate claims that Representative Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky) breached ethics rules by failing to prevent his wife from lobbying his staff on the way Tennessee Walking Horses are trained and exhibited.
In 2013 Whitfield sponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act that would have amended the Horse Protection Act of 1970 to forbid trainers from using action devices and would also have increased federal penalties for anyone who would sore a horse. The PAST Act died in the 113th Congress.
Last year, the Performance Show Horse Association and the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration lodged a complaint against Whitfield with the committee alleging that his wife, Constance Harriman Whitfield, a consultant for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) unfairly influenced the congressman about the legislation.
On March 27 the House Committee on Ethics said it had established an investigative subcommittee to probe those allegations.
Whitfield denied any wrongdoing and promised to cooperate with the investigation.
"The allegation that my wife lobbied my office or my staff to convince me to introduce and pass the legislation is absurd; this is an issue I have followed for many years," he said. "I introduced the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act because in my humble opinion it was the right thing to do.”