WaPo: Lawmaker Criticized for PAC Fees Paid to Wife (Rep. John Doolittle)

[Penndems]

By Jonathan Weisman and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 11, 2006; Page A01

In the past two years, campaign and political action committees controlled by Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) paid ever-larger commissions to his wife's one-person company and spent tens of thousands of dollars on gifts at stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co. and a Ritz-Carlton day spa.

The use of such committees, especially "leadership" PACs, for purposes other than electing politicians to Congress is a common and growing phenomenon, but campaign finance watchdogs say Doolittle has taken it to new heights.

Doolittle's wife, Julie, a professional fundraiser, has collected 15 percent of all contributions to Doolittle's leadership PAC and additional commissions on contributions to his campaign committee--a total of nearly $140,000 since 2003, according to Federal Election Commission records.

"I don't know if there's anything comparable," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a watchdog group that called last month for an investigation of Doolittle by the House ethics committee. "If this is okay, it is a road map for how to convert substantial sums of campaign money to personal use."
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Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001164.html

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