Controversy
Moseley Braun was the subject of a 1993 Federal Elections Commission investigation over $249,000 in unaccounted-for campaign funds. The agency found some small violations, but took no action against Moseley Braun, citing a lack of resources. Moseley Braun only admitted to bookkeeping errors. The Justice Department turned down two requests for investigations from the IRS.[11]
In 1996, Moseley Braun made a private trip to Nigeria, where she met with dictator Sani Abacha. Despite U.S. sanctions against that country due to Abacha's actions, the Senator did not notify, nor register her trip with, the State Department. She subsequently defended Abacha's human rights records in Congress.[12] Her former fiancé Kgosie Matthews, who also served on her campaign staff (in violation of U.S. immigration regulations[13]), had been a lobbyist for the Nigerian government; Matthews would later leave the country. She had paid Matthews, a native of South Africa, a salary of $15,000 a month during the campaign.[14]
In 1998, after George Will wrote a column reviewing the allegations of corruption against her,[15] Moseley Braun responded to Will's comments, saying that "I think because he couldn't say nigger, he said corrupt,"[16] She also compared Will to a Ku Klux Klansman, saying "I mean this very sincerely from the bottom of my heart: He can take his hood and put it back on again, as far as I'm concerned."[17] Later, Moseley Braun apologized for her remarks.[16] |
