Two weeks ago, we reported that $44,000 of holiday bonuses that Rep. Paul Gosar paid to his Congressional staff could ruin his year. Today, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) sent a letter to the Congressman’s committee, asking for more information on those – and, other – “incorrectly reported disbursements.”
The article noted that paying the bonuses to his Congressional staff from his campaign committee COULD be within the rules of both the House Ethics Committee and the FEC, but that there would need to be careful documentation of the campaign work done in order to justify the bonuses. Arizona’s Politics spoke with ethics experts who pointed out the possible legal and ethical issues for the Congressman.
Although we would not yet know if the House Ethics Committee read the article, received a complaint, or is looking into any possible violations, we now know that the FEC has taken notice. A senior campaign finance analyst sent two letters on June 7 to the Gosar campaign seeking additional information.
The first letter questions why the committee did not file the required 48-hour notices when reeiving sizable contributions within the last three weeks of election day. Only after the election did the campaign disclose the $16,900 in contributions from seven people, received on October 29.
The second letter is the one that states that the 10 items listing “bonus for campaign staff” and the largest bonus to his former Chief of Staff Thomas van Flein (which simply says “campaign bonus”) are “incorrectly reported”. (The FEC questioned a few other reimbursements and an item labeled “Tele Townhalls”.
The FEC is giving the Gosar for Congress committee until July 11 to amend their reports “to clarify the attached descriptions.”
To view today’s letters from the FEC, please visit the Arizona’s Politics article.
