Bunning used campaign money to pay daughter

$138,000 OVER SEVEN YEARS LEGAL

By Halimah Abdullah

HABDULLAH@MCCLATCHYDC.COM

Handout

Sen. Jim Bunning paid Amy Towles for handling financial paperwork.

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WASHINGTON --

Over the past seven years, Sen. Jim Bunning has used campaign money to pay his daughter, Amy Towles, more than $138,000 to keep track of his elections' financial paperwork.

That's more than any other senator paid family members for similar work, according to a new report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal government watchdog group.

While paying family members for such work is not illegal, watchdog groups say such practices should face tighter scrutiny.

"This at least raises questions about whether she is the most qualified person for the job," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the group. "People should ask themselves, 'When you give money to Jim Bunning, is that what you're giving it to, so he can pay his family?'"

The Kentucky Republican's staffers said Monday they aren't sure how much corporate experience Towles has in handling finances.

Towles began helping her father with federal campaign-related filings 14 years ago.

In 2001 she went on the payroll and received a $19,589.10 salary. Since then her salary has increased to roughly $25,000. Towles files her father's campaign finance paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, keeps track of financial records and has also served as a financial consultant for Bunning's political action committee, the Political Hall of Fame.

"There's nothing wrong or illegal being done here. This is perfectly legitimate," said Bunning spokesman Mike Reynard. "You want to have someone you trust to do the job right."

Bunning is not the only member of Congress who has used campaign funds to pay family members. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington found that, since 2000, at least 20 senators had engaged in the practice. At least 72 House members used campaign coffers to pay relatives, including Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset.

As reported earlier in the Herald-Leader, during the last election cycle Rogers' campaign committee paid the Washington, D.C.-based Levatino Group, which once employed his wife, Cynthia, $16,892 for the company's fund-raising efforts. Since 2002, Rogers' campaign committee has paid his daughter-in-law, Tracy Rogers, $24,000 to maintain a donor database or perform contract work, according to federal campaign finance documents and a report by the government watchdog group.

The House approved a measure last year that would have required full disclosure when family members are paid through campaign funds. The bill went nowhere in the Senate.

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