From a press release which just came in…

The Republican Party of Louisiana has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics calling upon the Committee to investigate Senator Mary Landrieu’s apparent use of taxpayer funded resources for campaign purposes, a violation of federal law and Senate Ethics Rules.

The complaint states that the Landrieu campaign’s first tv ad features footage captured by the Senator’s official staff and posted on the Senator’s official YouTube channel. Federal law and Senate Rules explicitly prohibit Senators from using official resources for political purposes.

“Congress has long recognized the basic principle that government funds should not be spent to help incumbents gain reelection,” said LAGOP Executive Director Jason Dore. “By approving a campaign ad that contains footage captured and posted by her staff in the course of their official duties for which they receive compensation from the federal treasury, Senator Landrieu has inappropriately used official resources to conduct campaign activities and must be held to account.”

On December 11, 2013, Friends of Mary Landrieu began airing a 30-second television ad advocating the Senator’s reelection. The ad, available here on Senator Landrieu’s campaign YouTube Channel, MaryLandrieu4Senate, includes b-roll video footage of Senator Landrieu at the 15-second mark speaking at a news conference in the United States Capitol. Identical video footage of the news conference is available on Senator Landrieu’s official YouTube channel, Senator Landrieu, here.

A full copy of the complaint is attached here.

This is a nothingburger, as even if Landrieu used a government employee here or there to produce a video it’s a negligible waste of taxpayer resources. It’s intended to keep her on defense. Whether it will or not is questionable.

But that’s what political parties do to each other. And Landrieu is hardly innocent when it comes to nothingburger scandals.