Our congressional representative, David Schweikert, was able to grab a headline and take some lazy swings at a series of softballs tossed at him from reporter Bob Burns in a front-page article in last week’s Times. How newsworthy and insightful to report that he was spending Christmas in Fountain Hills with his family and to discover his preference for “looking ahead.” Hard-hitting journalism to be sure.

A focus on his future must be so much more comfortable than being asked and having to answer questions about his recent past. In July, following a longstanding investigation by the bipartisan U.S. House Ethics Committee, congressman Schweikert accepted a reprimand, paid a $50,000 fine and admitted to 11 ethics violations in a time period stretching over nine years from 2010 through 2018. The findings of the committee were unanimous.

This was not merely an accusation or a one-time honest mistake. It’s eleven. A previous Times article by Burns published on Aug. 5 also failed to elicit any meaningful explanation from the congressman about his conduct.

Schweikert’s longstanding pattern of behavior is revealing. Of far greater concern is what it says about an electorate that knowingly voted to return this man to office.