Rep. Summer Lee's (D., Pa.) office has improperly used House resources and the notorious Instagram account "Dear White Staffers" for campaign and political activity, according to a complaint filed with the House Ethics Committee on July 22.
The complaint—filed by one of Lee's concerned constituents—demands that Philip Bennett, Lee's director of operations, be probed for using "Dear White Staffers" to advocate on behalf of preferred progressive candidates such as Abdul El-Sayed and broadly engage in "conduct not reflecting creditably on the House."
The complaint did not allege that Lee—a member of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D., N.Y.) far-left "squad"—specifically performed any improper act, but named her as a target anyway given that every "member is responsible for ensuring that employees are aware of and adhere to House rules and that House resources are used for proper purposes."
The controversial "Dear White Staffers" account—originally an anonymous space for junior congressional staff to grouse—is now controlled by Bennett, who regularly spews progressive, virulently anti-Israel invective to its close to half a million Instagram followers. Earlier this month, "Dear White Staffers" called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to kill anyone in the Epstein files—an exhortation which features prominently in the ethics complaint.
"On or about July 14, 2026, the account copublished—via Instagram's 'collaborator' feature, which jointly credits and displays a post on both accounts—a post by activist Ariana Jasmine stating a desire for 'my tax dollars to be used for ICE to hunt down and [shoot]/[kill] the people in the Epstein files, not random immigrants,' followed by 'I said what I said' and a dare to sue. By copublishing and adopting this post to an audience of roughly 380,000 followers, the account amplified a call for federal agents to carry out extrajudicial killings," the complaint notes—significantly undercounting the account's actual number of followers.
"Regardless of whether the words were originally the collaborator's, associating the operative of a House office with the promotion of extrajudicial violence, does not reflect creditably on the House within the meaning of House Rule XXIII, clause 1, which requires that Members, officers, and employees behave 'at all times' in a manner that reflects creditably on the House."
In the days after Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, which left 1,200 dead, Bennett himself immediately joined in "ceasefire" protests which broke out in progressive spaces around the country—even boasting about being arrested in an Oct. 20, 2023, interview with the New Arab.
"It was really powerful. I didn't have any plan. I was arrested with all of them. I was in my work clothes. They were wearing matching T-shirts," Bennett said of the moment.
Elsewhere, the complaint cited the account's open advocacy on behalf of liberal candidates including Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and William Lawrence, an anti-Israel activist now running for Congress in Michigan's seventh district.
"House rules prohibit using official resources — House-issued equipment, House networks, and official staff time — for campaign or political purposes, whether for the Member's own campaign or any other candidate, and whether to support or oppose. The account is reported to be operated by a full-time Director of Operations and posts throughout the standard workday," the complaint notes.
The ethics issues were reported to the committee by Jeremy Kazzaz, a Pittsburgh resident and Lee constituent. Kazzaz is also a cofounder of the Beacon Coalition, a Jewish issues nonprofit that fights antisemitism (with no affiliation to the Washington Free Beacon). Lee, whose district includes Squirrel Hill and the Tree of Life synagogue, site of the 2018 massacre of Jewish congregants, has been accused by Pittsburgh rabbis of "openly antisemitic" rhetoric.
Indeed, during her time in the House, Rep. Lee has also made a name for herself as one of its most anti-Israel members. In October 2023, after Hamas's slaughter, Lee voted against a bipartisan resolution stating that the House of Representatives "stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists."
A month later, she voted against another resolution condemning support for terrorism on college campuses.
In February 2024 Lee spoke at a banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations—which multiple states have designated as a terrorist organization. She has also appeared with social media influencer Hasan Piker, who infamously said "America deserved 9/11" and once called Jews "inbred."
"I think that it's important that we know we have transparency into what's going on in DC, and I think this account has grown increasingly extreme, and as far as how much it campaigns for members and embrace of political violence, and attacking sitting members of Congress directly," Kazzaz told the Free Beacon when asked why he submitted the complaint.
A representative for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment on the status of the probe. Rep. Lee's office did not respond to requests for comment from the Free Beacon.
