Democrat's wife gets over $500,000
Lawmaker keeps wife on payroll
Filner is sole client of spouse's unregistered consulting business
By Caitlin Rother
STAFF WRITER
December 4, 2005
U.S. Rep. Bob Filner has paid at least $505,000 in campaign funds to his wife for political consulting services since 1995. For the past five years she has run her unregistered business out of their condominium in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Rep. Bob Filner
Filner has properly reported the payments to his wife's business, called Campaign Resources, on his campaign statements. He also has filed annual financial disclosure reports stating that his wife earns an undisclosed salary as a "self-employed consultant."
However, the District of Columbia government has no record of Campaign Resources existing as a business, and directory assistance has no phone listing for that name.
With no public records linking Jane Filner to her company, Bob Filner's constituents have no way of knowing that some of his campaign contributions are finding their way into his household's income.
Asked to prove the existence of his wife's business, Filner's campaign provided faxed copies of a blank check from an account at SunTrust bank and a sheet of Campaign Resources letterhead with an outdated address and phone number.
It is illegal to spend campaign funds for personal use, but it is not illegal to use them to pay family members who provide "bona fide services" at fair-market value. Still, election watchdogs question the way the Filners set up their arrangement.
Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, said the question is whether "this (is) sloppiness or whether it's an attempt to hide that he's paying his wife for working for him."
Filner defended what he called "a perfectly legal arrangement" that was cleared with an attorney.
"Nobody's trying to hide anything," he said.
Jane Filner's only client is her husband, and for the past 11 years she has drawn what is essentially an annual salary from his campaign, though the amount varies from year to year.
She was paid $60,000 for fundraising and political consulting services in 1998, when Filner had the luxury of running unopposed, the first time in 70 years a congressman in San Diego County faced no other candidate.
Campaign issue
This year, Filner's three-time opponent, Assemblyman Juan Vargas, is making the payments a central issue of his campaign for the 51st District seat.
As in previous races, the two Democratic rivals are exchanging accusations of corruption. With the primary still six months away, this could be their ugliest battle yet. |
