Doolittle’s Very Special ArrangementRep. John Doolittle’s (R-CA) wife, acting as his fundraiser, was getting a 15% cut of contributions coming into his campaign. That sounds sketchy to us, but you never know in D.C., so we asked around to people who do know. The verdict: it sounds as bad to experts as it does to you. And a strong case can be made that Doolittle broke the law.
Neither Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21 nor Naomi Seligman of CREW could think of another example of a lawmaker’s wife or other family member getting a cut of contributions, and it’s not hard to figure why: because it sets off all sorts of warning bells. It is against the law for lawmakers to convert campaign money to personal use. And that’s just what was going on here.
Now, as with all matters legal, it’s more complicated than that. The FEC ruled on a matter very similar to this one back in 2001, when Jesse Jackson, Jr. was seeking to use his wife for consulting work. And what the FEC said back then was that it was OK as long as his wife was paid the “fair market value” for her services.
In that case, Jackson’s wife had plenty of experience. In this case, Doolittle’s wife had no experience. And she was being paid a 15% commission, which sounded high to Naomi Seligman.
So: no experience and she was being paid top dollar. Is that “fair market value?” Sounds like a pretty clear violation of the law to me.
