Hey, Big Spender!Members of Congress have now filed their second quarter spending reports, and several past and current lawmakers are putting those hard-earned campaign funds towards their mounting legal bills. Here is a look at the past quarter’s political spending on criminal and ethics investigations:
Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL): $277,000
Foley is being investigated for inappropriate actions and communications last year involving his underage House pages.
Rep. Don Young: (R-AK): $262,138
Young is under investigation for his relationship with Jack Abramoff as well as a long history of generous earmarking.
Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ): $102,000
The FBI has been investigating Hayworth’s large campaign contributions from Native American tribes as a part of the Jack Abramoff scandal.
Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL): $59,884
The former House speaker was investigated by the House ethics committee for his role in preventing the Foley scandal from coming to light.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA): $54,756
Lewis is being investigated for earmarks that he provided to campaign contributors, as well as his role in the Duke Cunningham scandal.
Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA): $50,584
Doolittle is under investigation for his roles in both the Duke Cunningham scandal and the Jack Abramoff scandal. Doolittle’s wife, who was sporadically employed by Abramoff, has had her home and office raided by the FBI.
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ): $25,000
Renzi is under investigation by the FBI for pushing inappropriate legislation meant to advantage political supporters and former business partners. His house was raided by the FBI this past April.
Former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA): $25,000
Weldon is under investigation for official actions that he took on behalf of his daughter’s lobbying clients. Weldon’s daughter’s offices were raided by the FBI last year.
Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV): $22,672
Mollohan, the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related issues, is under federal scrutiny for earmarked funds for his home state that might have been used to increase his personal wealth.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK): Unknown
Stevens is being investigated for his relationship with the construction company VECO, as well as his connection to the corruption investigation of his son and local state senator Ben Stevens. His campaign finance disclosures are yet to be uploaded by the Federal Election Commission.
Late Update: An earlier version of this post mistakenly stated that Sen. Stevens had requested an extension in filing his REC report. Rather, Sen. Stevens has requested an extension of his personal financial disclosure form from the Senate Secretary.