Hmmm......Coincidence???
June 24, 2002
Condit Aides Got Big Raises
Boosts Came After Levy Allegations
By Amy Keller
House payroll records show that Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.) significantly increased the salaries of three key staffers in the days following the revelation that he was romantically involved with Chandra Levy, a young Washington intern who went missing last year and recently was found dead in Rock Creek Park.
A Roll Call analysis of Condit’s payroll records, as disclosed in the quarterly Statement of Disbursements of the House, revealed that the embattled Congressman gave significant pay raises to two top aides — Administrative Assistant Mike Dayton and Chief of Staff Michael Lynch — as the Levy investigation heated up.
The Congressman also awarded significant pay raises to his longtime executive secretary, Jackie Mullen, more than doubling her salary in just two years and making her one of the highest-paid secretaries in Congress by pushing her close to the $100,000 mark — a salary typically earned only by chiefs of staff in Members’ offices. Mullen works out of Condit’s district office in Modesto.
According to public records, Mullen made about $43,000 in 1999, and her annual salary for 2000 increased to about $57,000 — but thanks to tremendous leaps in pay she began receiving around the time the Levy controversy exploded, her annual salary for 2001 jumped to about $99,000. Her pay jump first appeared in payroll records covering the period from April 1, 2001 through June 30, 2001. She was paid $34,749 for those three months, whereas she only earned $16,511 during the three months prior to that.
For the first quarter of 2002, which began Jan. 3 and ended March 31, Mullen raked in $26,444 — a rate of pay that would give her an annual salary of about $105,800.
Mullen is one of several Condit staffers who went to bat for the House Member last August on CNN’s "Larry King Live." Condit also appeared on the show around the same time to defend himself against speculation that he was involved in Levy’s disappearance; he was interviewed by police several times but was not called a suspect.
Dayton and Lynch also received considerable pay hikes from Condit as news of Levy’s disappearance spilled onto front pages last year.
Dayton earned about $82,000 annually in 1999 and his salary totaled $95,000 in 2000, but his pay jumped to about $115,000 in 2001 following the Levy controversy — his pay jumped by $10,000 to $33,166 for the three months ending Sept. 30, 2001 — and this year he earned $34,222 in just three months.
If he continues to be paid at that rate, Dayton — who has tirelessly defended Condit to the press over the past year — would make an annual salary of about $137,000, only slightly less than the $150,000 that rank-and-file Members earn themselves.
By law, Congressional staffers are not allowed to earn more than $145,000 per year.
Lynch — the highest-paid staffer on Condit’s staff — earned about $102,000 in 1999 and $114,400 in 2000.
Following the Levy controversy, Lynch’s salary increased by several thousand more dollars, and he earned $127,500 by the end of last year. By contrast, the average salary of a chief of staff was $97,615, according to a 2000 House staff employment study conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation.
For the first quarter of 2002, Lynch earned $34,555. If the Modesto-based staffer continues to be paid at that rate, his annual salary would be about $138,000, making him one of the highest-paid chiefs of staff in Congress.
Lynch is also earning money from the Congressman’s campaign committee. According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the campaign still owes Lynch $5,000 for "consulting services."
Neither Lynch nor Dayton returned phone calls seeking comment on their salaries or Mullen’s salary. But one unidentified Condit staffer said "common sense" should indicate that "hard work, commitment and dedication" resulted in the pay bumps.
But it’s safe to say that their salary hikes will come in handy as the staffers face potential unemployment lines once Condit finishes his last term in Congress.
The salary boosts, it should be pointed out, would also increase the amount of money each staffer will eventually receive as part of their federal retirement. The federal government’s retirement system bases an individual’s pension on the three highest years’ salaries.
Moreover, their padded salaries might also help should they confront their own legal bills.
Lynch recently testified before a grand jury investigating the Levy matter, and Dayton also came under scrutiny last year when he was spotted driving Condit to a trash can in Northern Virginia, where the Congressman mysteriously disposed of a watch case.
The watch case, according to press reports, had contained a gift from a female friend, but neither the Congressman nor Lynch have publicly explained why he was disposing of it in that manner.
Dayton is being represented by top Washington lawyer Stan Brand. Brand has earned his reputation over the years representing a number of Members of Congress facing various legal troubles.
Mullen has also lent herself to the Congressman, speaking favorably on his behalf last August on CNN’s "Larry King Live."
During that television appearance, Mullen — who has worked for Condit since 1983 when he was a member of the California state assembly — said she thought Condit should have made some sort of public statement sooner but defended his right to privacy.
"I would have liked to have seen him go out in the very beginning and say to the media, ‘I’m not going to talk about this. I have nothing to say to you folks. You know this is something that’s between me and my family, this is private,’" Mullen said during the appearance on CNN with her colleagues.
Mullen also told viewers that she thought Condit should not run for re-election: "I think he should not have to put up with what he’s had to put up with. And I think no, I don’t think he should," she said.
She also stated during the television interview that she never once questioned her boss about his relationship with Levy.
"With the rumors that I had heard, I never asked Gary Condit those kinds of questions," Mullen said.
rollcall.com |
