Two controversies involving former members of Congress have surfaced, drawing scrutiny from both the emerging psychedelic pharmaceutical industry and Capitol Hill. One involves former Congresswoman Mimi Walters and a powerful psychedelic industry trade group. The other alleges improper lobbying by former Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Together, they reveal what appears to be an effort to curry favor with, and potentially solicit funding from, government agency leaders, political officials, corporate lobbyists, and deep-pocketed psychedelic industry stakeholders. The evolving controversies, now the subject of formal filings with federal oversight bodies, are drawing intense scrutiny to the lobbying practices surrounding psychedelic therapies.

The first complaint centers on former Congresswoman Mimi Walters and the Association for Prescription Psychedelics (APP), a coalition of leading psychedelic biotech companies, including Compass Pathways, AtaiBeckley, Helus Pharma, and even Japanese pharmaceutical giant Otsuka. It was filed anonymously with the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC), and alleges that Walters, a Republican who represented California’s 45th district between 2015 and 2019, was involved in the potentially illegal dissemination of taxpayer-funded data originally intended to inform psychedelic policy drafting and reform efforts at the highest levels of U.S. government.

The second complaint concerns former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema. It was submitted to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, alleging that Sinema engaged in potentially illegal lobbying tied to her advocacy work at both the state and federal levels on behalf of various psychedelic advocacy groups and corporate entities, including Americans for Ibogaine and Tijuana-based Ambio Life Sciences. Former members of Congress are subject to a two-year “cooling-off period,” during which they are prohibited from political lobbying of any kind. 

Sinema previously stirred controversy in advocacy circles last year after saying Indigenous reciprocity and conservation concerns are “not my problem,” while also claiming that she’s “well known for having no drama.” She also stated in a public testimony that “there is no major pharmaceutical company to bankroll this effort [to increase ibogaine research and medical access] and then make billions on the back end… there's not a company that's making billions of dollars off of this.” 

Despite Sinema’s statements, a growing body of research into “safer ibogaine analogs” is already attracting major pharmaceutical interest. Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a next-generation suite of non-hallucinogenic ibogaine-derived compounds, has an existing partnership with AbbVie Inc., a $400 billion multinational pharmaceutical corporation, that includes an “option-to-license” clause designating AbbVie to lead development and commercialization of these therapies. That relationship expanded last year when AbbVie acquired Gilgamesh’s lead investigational drug Bretisilocin, a synthetic psilocybin compound, in a $1.2 billion deal, now the largest acquisition in the psychedelic drug development sector. The deal builds on an earlier $65 million collaboration between the two companies and underscores the commercial infrastructure forming around both psilocybin and ibogaine-derived treatments.

(Historically, influence-peddling and access-shopping activities involving federal government officials — elected or otherwise — have been a major flashpoint on Capitol Hill that politicians from both sides of the aisle have tried to address. Last year, Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY] filed a bill to impose a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.)

Both complaints raise significant legal and ethical questions about how private industry gains access to power in Washington, particularly the potential exploitation of taxpayer-funded congressional data and the apparent circumvention of post-employment lobbying restrictions meant to prevent former lawmakers from cashing in on their influence. Taken together, the allegations point to possible federal violations, the misuse of sensitive government information, and a culture of backroom dealmaking that could undermine the credibility of the psychedelic lobbying sector.

An anonymous complaint submitted to the Office of Congressional Conduct on Dec. 21, 2025, and obtained exclusively by DoubleBlind, alleges that Walters, who now serves on the board of the APP, may have misappropriated taxpayer-funded working group data. The data in question belongs to the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus, a bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives focused on advancing research into psychedelic compounds for treating mental health conditions. In August 2024, the PATH Caucus issued an open letter soliciting input on federal psychedelic policy reform from leading scientific, advocacy, and political stakeholders across the global psychedelic industry.

The anonymous whistleblower clarifies in the complaint that they are “not alleging criminal conduct,” but are instead “requesting review of whether information derived from congressional submissions may have been disclosed or used inconsistently with House rules, ethics guidance, or post-employment restrictions.”

According to the complaint, the alleged misconduct centers on the unauthorized use of sensitive data derived from a congressional Request for Information issued by Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., and the PATH Caucus. While the initial request was public, the individual submissions and any resulting analyses are typically restricted and controlled by the issuing office.

The whistleblower states they “have reason to believe that information derived from submitted responses — including… compilations or summaries of submissions, analyses or synthesis of submitted input, [and] thematic prioritization or interpretation of responses was used outside of the issuing congressional office.”

Adding a financial dimension to the alleged breach, the whistleblower claims that Walters and her son-in-law, Jon Kostas — the two driving forces behind the APP — sought to leverage this data to secure funding and exclusive access to powerful donors and corporate lobbyists. They allegedly retained an outside consulting firm — Pinney Associates — to review the information. The APP also organized a series of invite-only "briefing sessions" focused entirely on the data from the Caucus report, purportedly aimed at congressional staffers and representatives from key agency partners, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and DOJ. According to the complaint, these sessions occurred on or around September 23, 2025. 

At the time of these presentations, the Congressional Research Service allegedly did not yet have possession of, or responsibility for managing, the underlying dataset. The filing further asserts that the alleged actions of Walters and Kostas may violate the Congressional Code of Official Conduct and could constitute a federal crime, given that Walters was not authorized to disseminate the taxpayer-funded reports.

The PATH Caucus’ August 2024 public solicitation for input was not intended to be assessed by any outside party. “[The PATH Caucus] did not disclose to respondents that their submissions could be shared with, analyzed by, or presented by an industry association and an outside consultant, which raises questions about informed participation, authorization, and the integrity of the information-gathering process.”

“I became aware of these issues through conversations and observations in the course of my professional work,” the OCC complaint reads. “I am intentionally limiting identifying details at this stage and am submitting this information so  that an independent review can determine whether further inquiry is warranted.”

Representatives for Mimi Walters and the APP did not reply to multiple requests for comment on the allegations described in the OCC complaint.

Accusations in a separate complaint filed with the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia allege that former Senator Kyrsten Sinema violated federal lobbying restrictions by engaging in forms of advocacy on behalf of psychedelic groups and corporate interests during a post-office “cooling-off” period. Sinema served as a United States Senator for Arizona from January 2019 to January 2025. 

Under federal law, former members of Congress are subject to a strict statutory "cooling-off" period of two years. During this timeframe, former members of Congress are forbidden from contacting their former colleagues or staff members to seek favors or influence government decisions on behalf of a client. According to the DOJ whistleblower, Sinema’s public comments at a Senate Veterans' Affairs roundtable on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, may have violated the cooling-off period restrictions.

“Subsequent to leaving office,” the complaint reads, “and prior to the expiration of the cooling-off period – former Senator Sinema engaged in activities relating to federal legislation, including the Freedom to Heal Act and related measures.”

Email correspondence from the DOJ whistleblower dated Friday, December 12, 2025, highlights the frustration and confusion surrounding her advocacy efforts, specifically noting that "Senator Sinema's involvement is notable, particularly given that her cooling-off period has not yet ended.” 

In response, a Senate Veteran Affairs Committee (SVAC) staffer expressed frustration with the repeated attempts by outside lobbyists to plug their specific bills into the VA Committee, stating, "Yeah, we agree with you. That is not something we are going to advocate for.” The DOJ whistleblower said they submitted these contemporaneous emails to the United States Attorney solely for context, noting that enforcement authority rests exclusively with the DOJ, and urged an independent review to determine whether further inquiry or punitive action is warranted against the former Senator.

While Sinema claims she is not a lobbyist (but instead an “advocate”) for psychedelic policy reform in her capacity as a private citizen, her actions tell a more complicated story. She has provided public testimony before the Arizona state legislature and participated in a Senate roundtable hearing at the U.S. Capitol last year within the restricted post-office period. Those activities may place the former Democrat-turned-Independent Senator in violation of the “cooling-off” statute in question.

The DOJ whistleblower — who identified themselves as a Washington, D.C.-based political operative involved in psychedelic policy reform efforts — explained in a statement to DoubleBlind that they filed the complaint anonymously because “the issues raised in the complaint involve powerful political and lobbying interests, and protecting my identity allows the focus to remain on the substance of the potential ethics violation rather than on me personally.”

“Kyrsten Sinema completely disregarded federal laws designed to prevent political grifting,” the whistleblower said. “When those safeguards are ignored, it risks undermining public trust and can distort policy debates that affect vulnerable communities, including veterans seeking better treatment options.” 

Not only that, the whistleblower further alleged that many within the psychedelic lobby share many of the same concerns. 

“Kyrsten Sinema has made many people in the policy space uncomfortable with her conduct — and I felt it was important to bring the matter to the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice while ensuring the complaint could be evaluated on its merits.”

The allegations surrounding former Congresswoman Walters and the APP, and former Senator Sinema, have raised concerns from industry insiders about a potentially widespread fallout that could damage the credibility of the broader psychedelic lobby. That erosion could ultimately delay — or, at worst, prevent — efforts to bring psychedelic medicine to market. 

Notably, as reported by Psychedelic Alpha last year, Resilient Therapeutics, formerly known as Lykos Therapeutics (and before that MAPS PBC), a prominent MDMA-focused pharmaceutical company, quietly withdrew its membership from the APP last fall. This departure occurred amid palpable frustration from industry stakeholders over Walters and Kostas's lack of tangible legislative impact on Capitol Hill. 

Sinema has also recently been in the news for a civil lawsuit filed in North Carolina last November by the ex-wife of Matthew Ammel, a former staffer of hers with whom she allegedly had an affair. Most recently, Sinema admitted in court filings to having a “romantic and intimate” relationship with Ammel during her final year in office, but requested that the case be dismissed because the two were never intimate in North Carolina.

In February, Sinema was also accused by the nonpartisan watchdog group The Campaign Legal Center of spending over $700,000 in campaign funds on lavish personal expenses, such as concert tickets, luxury goods, travel, and expensive meals. Notably, over the 10 months after leaving office in January 2025, Sinema also paid a total of $379,398 in unused campaign funds to six former staffers, including a $9,000 payment to Ammel last October.

Americans for Ibogaine did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the allegations levied against Sinema in the DOJ complaint.

The accumulating drama surrounding federal psychedelic policy reform efforts has drawn the ire of some of the industry’s most respected advocates and organizations — namely, the Psychedelic Bar Association. After reviewing the OCC and DOJ complaints, the Executive Committee of the PBA’s Board of Directors issued a joint statement to DoubleBlind, specifically noting, “the ethics rules that are alleged to have been violated were created for important reasons, including to prevent private industry from obtaining unfair or improper benefit from information learned while holding office.”

“The PBA is committed to the advancement of safe, affordable, and culturally-informed access to psychedelics as a matter of health equity and health justice.”

In spite of the infighting between competing factions of the psychedelic lobby, bipartisan support for psychedelic policy reform efforts in Congress has yet to waver: a third piece of psychedelics-focused federal legislation — the “Innovative Therapies Centers for Excellence Act of 2026” was announced last week by Senators Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) and Rob McCormick (R-Pennsylvania). However, as the Office of Congressional Conduct and the United States Department of Justice review their respective complaints, the future of competing federal psychedelic policy reform efforts and the fate of the political power players backing them may well hang in the balance. 

Note: This article was produced in partnership with Psychedelic State(s) of America – a nonprofit-sponsored news organization dedicated to rigorous independent psychedelic journalism. Learn more about PSA’s Media Partnerships Program and donate to the PSA Media Fund here.

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