What Do John Benoit And Carol Migden Have In Common?

By J. Lucsko | 03/06/08 | 11:28 AM EDT | 0 Comments

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The answer to that question appears in yesterday's Sacramento Bee.


State Senator Carol Migden is suing the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and its chairman, Republican Ross Johnson, to unfreeze $647,000 in another campaign committee that Migden control so she can use that money in her current race.

The article states:

In her suit against the FPPC and Johnson, Migden contends the $647,000 in question "could well make the difference" in her fight to retain her Senate seat.

The disagreement stems from a complaint filed last November by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who is running for Migden's Senate seat.

He accused her of charging $397,000 in political expenses without disclosing who was initially paid and for what, as required by campaign finance laws. He also objected to the transfer of funds between her campaign committees.

Migden's campaign committee reports, dating back to 2000, included 30 instances in which credit card bills ranging from $219 to $236,431 were listed but lacked itemization, according to published reports. Her attorney said the mistakes stemmed from the use of volunteer bookkeepers who were not familiar with all of the state requirements for campaign finance reporting. 

California's campaign finance laws require that any payment of over $100.00 to a credit card company be itemized on a candidate's campaign finance disclosure reports.  Like Carol Migden, John Benoit has also failed to properly itemize his credit card payments.  

By doing so, both Benoit and Migden, have prevented both the FPPC and the public from being able to properly examine their campaign finances to ensure that their expenditures were appropriate.

A glaring example of Benoit's disregard for California's campaign finance laws can be found simply by examining his "Benoit for Assembly 2006" campaign account.  In 2006 alone, Benoit's committee reports paying a total of $80,601.63 to American Express, Capital One, and Visa.  And just like Carol Migden, John Benoit failed to properly itemize these payments even though it is required by law.

It makes one wonder, what is John Benoit trying to hide?

TAGS: Capital One, American Express, Carol Migden, FPPC, Gray Davis Republican, John Benoit, Ross Johnson, Visa, unitemized credit card payments

 

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