Politics

Christine O'Donnell Finds a New Way to Pay Rent

By Paul Blumenthal

Less than a month ago word leaked that federal investigators had opened a criminal probe into allegations that three time failed Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell had misused funds during her 2010 campaign for Senate. The allegations come from both former employees, who claim that O'Donnell used campaign funds on personal expenses, such as rent, and from the organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Despite this investigation O'Donnell is launching a Super PAC, ChristinePAC, to raise unlimited funds from donors and spend money in races across the country. The big problem with this Super PAC is that it looks very similar to the campaign that brought O'Donnell under federal investigation.

The most glaring issue is that, like O'Donnell's campaign, ChristinePAC's office address is O'Donnell's home address (1242 Presidential Dr). One of the central aspects of the federal investigation is that O'Donnell used approximately $20,000 of her campaign funds to pay her home rent, on which she was behind at the time.

According to one former staffer, O'Donnell spent money on "meals, gas, a bowling outing, and rent to a landlord." Another staffer recorded automated phone calls to voters with an explanation of how O'Donnell had misused campaign funds.

Christine O'Donnell has never won election to any state or federal office. She has run for Senate in the past three elections. Prior to her 2010 run for Senate she was cited for failing to properly file reports on her campaign's finances numerous times and found herself facing serious campaign debts, mortgage issues, and liens from the Internal Revenue Service.

At what point does political activity becoming pure grifting?

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on January 18, 2011 (boomark / email).