All in the family

26 Feb 2008 // Sixteen senators have paid relatives more than half a million dollars in salaries or fees for fundraising and other campaign work since 2001, according a political ethics watchdog group.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, known as CREW, also found that senators paid nearly $1 million in fees and contributions to family-connected businesses or employers.

"Members do use their jobs to financially benefit their families and they do it in various ways," said Melanie Sloan, CREW executive director.

It is not illegal under Senate rules to pay relatives for campaign work. The biggest checks CREW found were from Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat. She paid her son’s company $320,000 between 2001 and 2006 for political consulting work.

Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky has paid his daughter nearly $139,000 to manage his campaign expenses.

Closer to home, the group reported that two campaign committees associated with Republican Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri has disbursed thousands of dollars since 2003 to his wife, her political consulting firm and her partner in the firm.

But Bond Spokeswoman Shana Marchio said the report shows that he took steps to ensure that his wife, Linda Bond, did not benefit financially.

Among the money that CREW took into account was $242,000 in payments in 2003 and 2004 that Bond committees made to Linus Catignani. He is a partner with Bond’s wife in Catignani & Bond, a Washington campaign consulting firm.

However, Catignani received the payments through a personal services contract with the senator, independent of his work with the firm and Linda Bond.

"This money did not go to Mrs. Bond or to the partnership which Mrs. Bond is party too, but to Mr. Catignani," Marchio said.

Brett Kappel, a Washington attorney who specializes in campaign finance law, said that Bond appears to have made arrangements to ensure that "money did not flow back to Mrs. Bond’s pocket. A lot of members could learn from that."

In a statement, Bond said, "High ethical standards are important to me, which is why I went to great lengths to ensure neither my wife nor her firm would benefit from my campaign, as the CREW report confirms."

CREW found that Missourians for Kit Bond, and KITPAC reimbursed his wife’s consulting firm about $19,000 for fundraising expenses in 2004 and 2005.

They also reimbursed Linda Bond about $6,200 between 2003 and 2006 for campaign travel that she did on behalf of her husband’s 2004 re-election.

Committees for Republicans Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback of Kansas also reimbursed their respective spouses. Franki Fann Roberts received nearly $5,000 between 2002 and 2006 and Mary Brownback received about $900. In both cases the reimbursements were for expenses related to their spouses’ Senate duties or campaigns.

CREW found no campaign related payments to family members of Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

Others who did pay family members include Democrats Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Joe Biden of Delaware, and Republicans John Sununu of New Hampshire and Michael Crapo of Idaho.