{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cline.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1569", "Congressman Ben Cline Calls For Ethics Investigation into Virginia Lawmakers\u2019 Threats Against VMI Board", "2025-02-19", "2025", "2025-02", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Ben Cline", "C001118", "cline.house.gov", "cline", "https://cline.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Congressman Ben Cline is calling for an immediate ethics investigation into reports that members of the Virginia General Assembly have engaged in political coercion, attempting to strong-arm members of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Board by threatening to withhold funding if they do not extend the contract of VMI\u2019s superintendent. These disturbing actions reveal a clear and troubling effort to exert undue influence over VMI\u2019s governance.\n\n\u201cThe idea that members of the General Assembly would use their positions of power to intimidate VMI Board members by conditioning funding on the extension of the superintendent\u2019s contract is not just inappropriate, it is an outright abuse of power,\u201d said Congressman Cline.\n\nVMI, one of the nation\u2019s most storied military institutions, has long upheld a tradition of service, leadership, and honor. The men and women who serve on its Board of Visitors should be free to make decisions in the best interest of the school, its cadets, and its mission, without political interference from members of the General Assembly seeking to force ideological conformity.\n\nIn his letter, Congressman Cline highlighted that one VMI Board member reported that Senator Jennifer Carroll-Foy stated the following:\n\n\u201cI am just trying to help VMI. Cedric is African American. The leadership of the General Assembly is African American. Your board appointments and budget amendments are in peril. You can fix this by giving Cedric a four-year contract extension.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese comments, wholly unbecoming of a member of the General Assembly and completely inconsistent with the values of our nation, make plain the leadership of the General Assembly is attempting to exert undue influence on the decisions of the Board in exchange for funding priorities of VMI,\u201d Cline continued.\n\nCongressman Cline is demanding immediate accountability for those responsible and calling for an ethics investigation into this outrageous abuse of power. He will continue to stand with VMI against political intimidation and ensure that its mission remains intact, free from coercion and political interference.\n\nRead the full letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T23:42:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cline.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1569"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1819321662187576, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}