TPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Politico: NRCC Aide Thieved from GOP Lawmaker Campaign Accounts, Too

Politico: NRCC Aide Thieved from GOP Lawmaker Campaign Accounts, Too

By Paul Kiel - March 14, 2008, 10:09AM

So former National Republican Campaign Committee treasurer Chris Ward seems to have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from the NRCC. But the NRCC was not the only one he might have been taking from, according to The Politico:

One GOP insider said Ward also diverted funds from the leadership PACs and re-election campaigns for which he worked, usually in smaller amounts, although the insider said the total taken from those PACs and campaigns may actually end up being greater than the losses suffered by the NRCC itself....
A GOP source said that, in some cases, Ward cut checks, in small amounts, from a lawmaker’s campaign or leadership PAC directly to his own bank account. At other times, the sources said, Ward used a dummy company as a go-between, but the money finally ended up in his account.

The source said that Ward issued a $4,208 check to himself in December from Rep. Jeb Hensarling’s (R-Texas) PAC, although he returned that money in early February, after the NRCC accounting scandal became public.

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A good discussion of the topic is going on over at FireDogLake:

Hey, remember a while ago when Barbara Bonfiglio (the "treasurer to the GOP stars") abruptly resigned from Williams and Jensen? TPM had a story on it.

Barbara Bonfiglio, who was once treasurer to political action committees and other organizations for ethically challenged lawmakers Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) and others, just quit D.C. superfirm Williams & Jensen. She also stepped down from her post as treasurer of Rep. Richard Pombo's (R-CA) RichPAC.
Bonfiglio's got a colorful past: She was subpoenaed in 2004 by Texas DA Ronnie Earle as part of his investigation into Tom DeLay. She may have been involved in the effort by DeLay crony Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) in sic'ing the IRS on the Texas watchdog group Texans for Public Justice. And she was listed as treasurer for Santorum's Operation Good Neighbor "charity," which used less than half of its money to do actual good deeds.

Did Chris Ward take over any of Bonfligio's accounts?

And did we ever learn why she resigned so quickly?

Certainly a lot of hazard being a GOP treasurer these days!

Posted by Citoyen92
March 14, 2008 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink

Typical GOP behavior I'd say.

But never fear, IOKIYAR.

Posted by gonzone
March 14, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink

If someone is pilfering this kind of money--there must have been a lot of cash transactions and money transfers--right? If there were a lot of transactions--would these have caused the same kind of scrutiny as the Spitzer cash transactions did? How "small" is small--relative to the Spitzer transactions? Also, could it be that Ward wasn't taking this money for himself? Is there an accounting of his personal finances? Was Ward living too "large" for his stated income?

Posted by Mehitabel
March 14, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink

TPM, you are not giving yourself deserved credit.

I know TPM has been on this story since August, but cannot establish it on the site

That the story broke in August is sure.

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/03/specifics_released_on_nrcc_acc.html

Posted by BlueStateRedhead
March 14, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink

Ward has a nice house in Bethesa and a kid enrolled in an elite private school...

Posted by Citoyen92
March 14, 2008 11:18 AM | Reply | Permalink

NRCC has hired PricewaterhouseCooper (through a lawfirm) to investigate. Where fraud is suspected they will be looking for "off books transactions" and "secret or illegal purpose transactions" such as bribes, hush money, or slush funds, and "unrecorded transactions" such as money received that was not recorded.

In a previous TPM story one of the commentators linked to a story saying the cost of the Accountants' examination would be over a million.

Given that it is for fraud and has legal import sinceteh failure to account violates election laws this figure seems low to me.

Posted by Steve in Seattle
March 14, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink

mmmm... a gang of crooks hires a crook to keep the books...

What goes around comes around...

Posted by Jim the cynic
March 14, 2008 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink

Only in the bloated world of campaign finance is $4,200 considered a small amount.

Posted by Powkat
March 14, 2008 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink

So, big deal - this Ward guy gets to live like the politicos do. There doesn't seem to be any restrictions on how the candidates spend campaign cash - parties, golfing, lavish homes, trips, etc. I'm beginning to feel like making a political donation is like making a donation to a tv preacher - it only inhances the recipient's lifestyle.

What's Ron Paul gonna do with all the money he raised for his presidential run?

Sorry, I just finished reading the article in Harper's about "campaign' funds are spent.

Posted by judyinnm
March 14, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink