campaign funds Archives

Report – Louie Gohmert Illegally Took Campaign Funds for Personal Use

I knew there was something about Gohmert that didn’t pass the mustard test. Besides being a Republican, it seems Gohmert might also a thief. The man allegedly stole campaign funds and used those funds to pay for a trip to England. Funds amounting to over $5400.00

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint after Gohmert’s campaign listed expenses for a trip to London in November and December.

The lawmaker’s campaign reported that it spent $5,451.39 at the five-star Andaz Liverpool Street hotel, $396.12 at the Old Bank Hotel in Oxford, and $234.54 for a taxi ride in Cambridgeshire.

Gohmert held speaking engagements while in England with the Cambridge Union Society, the Rothermere American Institute, the Federalist and Henry Jackson Societies, and a joint group from the U.K. House of Lords and House of Commons.

None of those events were related to campaign activities, CREW said in its complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics.

“Rep. Gohmert’s legendary tirades may put him in high demand for public speaking engagements, but that doesn’t give him license to bill a luxury London vacation to his campaign,” said Anne Weismann, CREW’s interim executive director. “The congressman can’t credibly claim that speeches made to those who can’t vote for him served the purpose of getting him reelected.”

Jesse Jackson Jr. Could Spend Up to 4 Years in Jail

Politico is reporting that the Federal prosecutors are seeking a four-year prison sentence for former Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has pleaded guilty to illegally diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to personal use.

Under the Justice Department recommendations, Jackson would have to forfeit the $750,000 he stole from his campaign, and pay back another $750,000 to his reelection committee. Prosecutors are asking that someone not related to Jackson be appointed to run the campaign, which would then be “wound down.”

Jackson, the son of well-known civil rights advocate Rev. Jesse Jackson, is scheduled to be sentenced early next month.

In a break for Jackson and his wife — former Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, who also pleaded guilty in the case — prosecutors have requested that their prison sentences be staggered so that both aren’t in prison at the same time. Sandi Jackson faces up to 18 months in federal prison as part of the couple’s illegal scheme. The couple have two young children.

Once a rising star in Democratic politics, the 48-year-old Jackson pleaded guilty in February to using more than $750,000 from his campaign to cover a stunning range of personal expenses in thousands of transactions, including including home renovations, furniture, school tuition, groceries, a $43,000 Rolex watch, fur coats and memorabilia associated with Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Bruce Lee.