UPDATED 10:36 EDT / DECEMBER 16 2015

NEWS

Congressman narrowly avoids legal trouble over League of Legends video

Colorado representative Jared Polis’ vocal support of Riot Games’ League of Legends nearly got him into some serious trouble with the House Ethics Committee, but this week the regulatory body declared that Polis has been officially cleared of any wrongdoing.

The investigation into Polis’ affiliation with League of Legends began earlier this year after he appeared in a community video talking about his love for the game, comparing some of his experiences in League to his experiences in politics.

“You experience politics in a League of Legends game,” Polis said in the video. “I mean, the dynamic between the players in terms of who is going where, how you decide on it, do you group up in the middle, when do you stop laning—all of those types of decisions which everybody who’s played League of Legends has seen work really well and also seen it completely fall apart.”

He added, “That’s only five people, but you have 435 in the United States House of Representatives trying to get along.”

In the video, Polis also talked about his opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which he said were one of the few times he saw the entire League community come together on for a common cause.

Ethics investigation

Polis’ comments were seen by some not as a personal love for the game but as an official endorsement of a product, something that is forbidden by federal law. As a result, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) launched an investigation into Polis’ participation in the video, as well as his participation in a clothing event for Ninox Designs LLC.

“OCE found that there was substantial reason to believe that Representative Polis engaged in activities that could be perceived as endorsements of Riot Games and Ninox,” the OCE said in its recent ruling, “and that he used official resources in promoting the businesses, in violation of federal law and House Rules. For that reason, OCE recommended that the Committee further review these allegations.”

The committee ultimately cleared Polis in a ruling released this week, saying, “The Committee considered Representative Polis’ participation in the video produced by Riot Games and the clothing event with Ninox, and concluded that Representative Polis did not use official resources for a commercial purpose or violate House Rules regarding official endorsement of a commercial entity.”

You can watch Polis’ League of Legends video below:

Screenshot via League Community | YouTube

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