Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) has a new staff assistant in Dubuque his family knows better as son and brother.
Malcolm Stewart's story, which has been covered by the press and inspired a campaign ad, may now be running against an ethical line. The University of Iowa graduate and addition to Blum's family is on the congressional payroll.
Stewart lost his father to drug-related violence in Chicago and moved to Dubuque with his mother as a young teen, eventually meeting Blum, his basketball coach. In a development resembling the movie "The Blind Side," Stewart's mother died several years later and he connected with Blum once again, who brought him into his family.
In an emailed statement, Blum's communications director Keegan Conway denied there is an ethics issue with the hire.
"Malcolm was not legally adopted by the Blums," he said. "Since he's not a family member there are no ethics concerns."
Nepotism ethics rules bar members of Congress from hiring close relatives, though Stewart would not fit the categories given that he was not adopted.
On Stewart's Facebook page, he appears in photos alongside Blum and the rest of the family and in a photo on Twitter he stands beside Blum as he takes the oath of office Jan. 6.
"Speaker Boehner and the family!" he tweeted with the photo.
In the campaign ad, Blum and Stewart sit next to each other and tell their story.
"I played basketball for Rod Blum and when my mom died, Coach took me into his family," Stewart says. "Coach always taught the team that if we work hard and play by the rules, we will have the opportunity to be successful."
Blum adds that Stewart graduated from college with honors and he is running for Congress because, "I want to make sure all of our kids have the same opportunity for success."
The ad ends in a fist bump between the two.
