Rep. Young Kim has amended congressional financial reports after a complaint alleged she failed to disclose five sponsored trips since 2022.

The complaint from End Citizens United, a left-leaning campaign finance reform group, said Kim, a California Republican, had taken five sponsored trips totalling nearly $50,000 that were not included on personal financial disclosure statements.

Records with the House Clerk show Kim has already filed amendments to disclose the five trips highlighted in the complaint.

“All trips Rep. Kim attends are part of her official duties as a member of Congress and are approved by the House Ethics Committee and disclosed on the House Clerk’s website,” said Ellie Gilchrist, a spokesperson for Kim. “Rep. Kim always acts in accordance with House rules, and as soon as this oversight was identified, she corrected it.”

One trip, according to the complaint, cost more than $25,000 and was paid for by the American Israel Education Foundation for travel from Los Angeles to Israel for the representative and her husband in 2022.

Kim’s office published a news report about the bipartisan trip shortly after. In it, Kim, a first-term representative at the time, described learning about Israel’s security challenges as well as its business and technology advancements.

Another trip highlighted by the complaint occurred in 2024. It totaled more than $19,000, with the Korea Society and the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress footing the bill for travel to Seoul and Busan in South Korea. Kim’s husband also embarked on this trip, the complaint said.

During that bipartisan trip, Kim met with several South Korean officials, including then-President Yoon Suk Yeol, her office noted in a press release at the time. The release also said the trip was sponsored by the Former Members of Congress and the Korea Society.

The other three trips highlighted in the complaint included one sponsored by the Republican MainStreet Partnership to San Antonio in 2022; one by the Gates Global Policy Center to Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2023; and one by the Governing Majority Education Fund to New York City in 2024.

“Congresswoman Kim didn’t just slip up once; she blatantly disregarded federal disclosure law five separate times, hiding the source of nearly $50,000 used to fund multiple trips, including business class flights and luxury hotel accommodations,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United. “These laws exist to protect the public by exposing conflicts of interest and preventing public officials from letting perks influence their votes.”

Congressional members are allowed to take sponsored travel for official business purposes.

The End Citizens United complaint does note that Kim had gotten approval for these trips from the House Committee on Ethics and has disclosed other trips on her personal financial disclosure statements.

“This blatant omission is a clear violation of federal law and shows a disregard for the Act’s important transparency goals that allow the public to know what groups have privately funded Rep. Kim’s travel and whether Rep. Kim may have a conflict of interest when voting on matters related to these entities,” the complaint said, referring to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which lays out financial disclosure rules.

The complaint was filed with the Office of Congressional Conduct, a non-partisan group that reviews allegations of misconduct against House members. The office did not respond to a request for comment about whether it had received or reviewed the complaint.

It is not unusual for members to amend their disclosure forms to disclose travel or other revenue.

Kim represents California’s 40th Congressional District, which includes communities in Orange County as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties. She is running for reelection in 2026.

_____

©2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit ocregister.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.