Crapo among top 3 senators who pay family for campaigning

Idaho's junior senator paid his wife, Susan, $78,514 between 2001 and 2006.

9 Mar 2008 // Sen. Mike Crapo is among the top three senators who pay family members to help them campaign, according to a report from a Washington, D.C., ethics watchdog group.

Through his Freedom Fund political action committee and his own campaign re-election committee, Crapo paid his wife, Susan Crapo, $78,514 from 2001 to 2006, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics found.

It's not illegal to pay family members to work on campaigns, although it is against the law to pay them to work in their congressional offices. However, it is illegal to convert campaign money to personal use.

The report focuses on the U.S. Senate. It's aim is to show how "members of Congress use their positions to financially benefit family members," CREW wrote, recommending that, "if not prohibited outright, the role of family members in the operation of political committees should be made more transparent." The report also documents the lobbying connections that some senators' family members have.

In Crapo's case, it's an especially large amount of money considering he ran unopposed in 2004 when he was last up for re-election, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW.

"It's a lot of money," Sloan said, adding that when a candidate isn't actively campaigning, "then it looks like you're just looking for an excuse to pay your wife."

"The question is whether you're converting your campaign funds for personal use," Sloan said. "It's certainly something his constituents should be aware of and skeptical of. We think people ought to be informed about where their campaign funds are going."

Crapo uses his political action committee, known as a leadership PAC, to funnel money to candidates he supports. The PAC donated $10,000 to the U.S. Senate campaign of Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch, for example. Often, senators often use them to curry favor with fellow lawmakers in their party, especially those in leadership or those who need the money for their re-election campaigns.

Crapo's Freedom Fend PAC holds two major fundraisers each year: the Hook and Bullet, a summer fishing-and-hunting event in Belleville, and the Crapo Ski Fest in Sun Valley.

His campaign spokesman, Jake Ball, said that Susan Crapo "provides enormous value to the campaign and the PAC. She's earned every dollar she's been paid."

Ball, a full-time employee of the senator's re-election campaign, said that Crapo's wife makes thousands of phone calls to the people invited to the events, takes care of details and logistics and "makes sure Mike is where he needs to be."

As for CREW's criticism about paying for staff in years when there are no elections, Ball said that the modern nature of political campaigns means that senators must still campaign in the years they're not up for re-election.

"The way national politics play out nowadays, there's really not space for downtime," he said. "You have to be involved and active in a campaign capacity continuously."

The report doesn't cover 2007, which shows that Crapo's campaign reimbursed his wife for $6,045.49 in expenses, including telephone charges, Internet access and mileage. The Freedom Fund PAC paid her $22,798.30 last year. Most of the payments from the PAC are listed as "fundraising retainer" fees. In some cases, she was reimbursed for expenses.

Sen. Larry Craig also made the CREW list. He was in the top five of U.S. senators reimbursing themselves for campaign related expenses, including travel costs. Craig reimbursed himself $82,840.52 over the five-year period, CREW found.

His wife, Suzanne Craig, received $21,436.26 over the same time period for expenses related to the campaign.