Federal Grand Jury Investigating GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s Campaign

Gov. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., waves to a supporter after advance voting at the Shawnee County Elections office in Topeka, Kan., Monday, Oct. 27, 2014. Brownback is running for reelection against Democratic challenger P... Gov. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., waves to a supporter after advance voting at the Shawnee County Elections office in Topeka, Kan., Monday, Oct. 27, 2014. Brownback is running for reelection against Democratic challenger Paul Davis. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal grand jury is looking into loans made to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s re-election campaign and has ordered the state’s ethics chief to testify next week as part of its investigation, according to a subpoena obtained by The Associated Press.

Carol Williams, the executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, was summoned to appear before the grand jury Wednesday in Topeka, according to documents the AP obtained through an open records request. She also was ordered to provide documents pertaining to loans Brownback’s campaign received in 2013 and 2014.

The subpoena doesn’t say which specific loans are being investigated, but the only loans listed on campaign disclosure reports for those years are one from Brownback himself and others from Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer. Colyer loaned Brownback’s campaign $500,000 in August — the third such loan the governor’s running mate made to their re-election bid — according to the last disclosure report, filed days before the November general election.

The loans, the first of which was made in December 2013, raised eyebrows on the campaign trail because loans in such large amounts are rare in Kansas political races and because the loans were repaid within days, a highly unusual move.

The governor’s office said it was unaware of the investigation. The U.S. attorney’s office declined comment.

Brett Berry, general counsel for the ethics commission, released the document Thursday through the open records request, but otherwise declined comment. Williams also declined to comment.

Colyer, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, told the AP in August that the two $500,000 short-term loans he made to Brownback’s re-election campaign are examples of the good stewardship Kansas residents expect from government officials.

“It was just simple cash management,” Colyer told AP at the time. “It’s good money management, that’s all. That’s what you’d expect for me to do with the state’s money, too, is to manage it well. We manage our campaign well — that’s it.”

Earlier finance reports indicate that Colyer made his first $500,000 loan on Dec. 31, 2013, the last day covered by a finance report due in early January 2014, and it was repaid on Jan. 2, 2014. He then made a second $500,000 loan on July 23, 2014, the second-to-last day covered by a finance report due in late July. That loan was repaid two days later, when a new reporting period started.

The third $500,000 loan from Colyer was made on Aug. 13, and it’s not clear whether it has been repaid. The next campaign finance report, which would disclose such a repayment, is due Saturday. Brownback also loaned his campaign $200,000 during the last reporting period. Those are the only loans the Brownback campaign reported receiving in financial disclosure filings.

Colyer also refused at that time to discuss other details about the loans. But he said the campaign didn’t keep his first loan because it wasn’t going to earn much interest.

Reporters also asked Brownback, after an unrelated statehouse news conference in August, whether he could explain the loans, and he declined.

“I’m not going to explain the thought process,” Brownback said at the time.

Democrat Paul Davis, who narrowly lost to Brownback in November, made the loans an issue on the campaign trail. Davis’ spokesman, Chris Pumpelly, said before the election that voters “deserve to know where this money came from.”

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Latest News
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: