Democrat’s MONEY FUNNELING Revealed – Family Involved!
(TheRedWire.com) – In political campaigns, it’s not uncommon for family members to work for the campaign and draw a salary. Still, it can create ethical questions. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) has a questionable history of paying family members from campaign funds. In 2016, the Illinois Democrat paid four family members over $100,000 in his re-election bid, including his wife at the time (who died in 2017), brother, son, and mother. Now, questions are mounting about payments to his new wife and son, even though Rush is retiring from Congress.
From June 2021 to March 2022, campaign finance reports show that Rush paid his wife $11,000. Since 2019, he’s also paid his son $45,000 for helping his campaign conduct services usually associated with campaign door knocking and phone calls. The campaign made the payments from an account that raised over $220,000 during the 2020 election cycle.
NEW: Congressman Bobby Rush has a history of funneling campaign dollars to family members.
And since 2019, he has paid his wife Paulette and ex-convict son Jeffrey roughly 56K in campaign funds, FEC records show.https://t.co/VqfB7vDatu
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) June 26, 2022
It’s not illegal for campaigns to hire a candidate’s family – regardless, ethicists say there can be a gray line in determining the fair market price for campaign services. Neither the law nor regulations define the term, leaving it open to subjective interpretation and little oversight.
Rush is far from the only member of Congress to pay family members. Since 2018, the number three Democrat in the House, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), paid businesses owned by family members $200,000 in campaign money.
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