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TRAVERSE CITY -- Norman R. Hayes, a retired probate and family court judge and former Otsego County Republican Party chair and Rev. Dr. Jeffrey E. Rhodes, a retired U.S. Navy chaplain (CDR, CHC, USN, ret.), announced their intent on Friday to file a second House Ethics complaint against U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet.
The complaint is related to a Detroit News investigation published last week under the title “How a Michigan congressman came to live in campaign donor's D.C. home” that found Bergman’s billionaire campaign donors sold Bergman’s daughter an expensive house in Washington in a no-bid deal, on land contract, with no down payment.
“We are shocked and disappointed that for the second time this year, we have credible evidence that Jack Bergman is violating the law in a shady financial deal to enrich himself and those close to him,” said Rhodes. “If true, it demonstrates a pattern and practice of abusing the public’s trust and, once again, taxpayer money, for personal gain.”
According to Hayes and Rhodes’ press release, Bergman claims to be using taxpayer money to pay his “landlord,” aka his daughter, via a receipt-free program that allows members of Congress to reimburse themselves for lodging in Washington with almost no transparency. So far he has collected nearly $77,000 in taxpayer-funded reimbursements for Washington lodging costs since 2023.
“The best case scenario is that Bergman has billed taxpayers $77,000 to buy his daughter a swanky Washington house,” said Hayes. “But given how little we know about the loan and the secrecy around it, he could even be pocketing the reimbursement for himself. That’s why it should have been disclosed to the public, and why we are demanding an investigation.”
Both the cost of the home, which was sold to Bergman’s daughter in 2025 in a no-bid sale for the same amount the donor paid in 2022, and the land contract may amount to gifts and should have been disclosed to the public and reviewed by the House Committee on Ethics, says Hayes and Rhodes.
“Bergman’s daughter doesn’t owe a dime of principle on the house until 2033,” said Rhodes. “Meanwhile, the value of the house will go up dramatically. He could be getting a $3 million home in 2033 for the 2022 price.”
“A loan with zero principal due and zero down payment isn’t something any family could get by walking into their credit union and asking nicely,” said Hayes. “So the question is: why are Jack Bergman and his daughter getting this deal, and what are his billionaire cronies getting out of it? It’s obscene – that’s why we have laws about this kind of thing!”
Hayes and Rhodes previously filed a House Ethics complaint in May over a Detroit News investigation that found the Congressman structured his staff’s pay in a way that enabled them to run a political consulting firm, “Right Way To Win,” without disclosing it to the public. The firm was paid by state candidates running in Bergman’s district in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan. Bergman endorsed many of Right Way To Win’s clients.