Bloomberg: Ex-Candidates May Face Restrictions on Campaign Cash
Jackson (D-Ill.) went to prison and Schock (R–Ill.) resigned amid scandal and corruption charges. Later this month, a federal appeals court is to hear arguments in Schock’s case. For both former lawmakers, the handling of campaign money was among the issues in the criminal cases against them.
The FEC has asked for public comments on a petition filed by the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, which seeks new restrictions on use of campaign money by anyone no longer running for election. There’s a “disturbing trend of lawmakers leaving office with sizeable campaign chests, and then using those leftover campaign funds in ways that appear to constitute personal use,” the group wrote.
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Campaign Legal Center attorney Brendan Fischer said he expects this petition to result in action because Republican and Democratic FEC commissioners generally have taken a strict view of permissible uses of campaign money, especially for retiring lawmakers.
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The Campaign Legal Center has filed an FEC complaint against the campaign committee of Mark Takai (D-Hawaii), which reported that it continued to pay almost $6,000 per month to a consulting firm headed by campaign treasurer Dylan Beesley for 18 months after Takai died of cancer.