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Schmidt Can't Pay Ethic Panel Fines
asbarez
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
Rep. Jean Schmidt
WASHINGTON - Embattled GOP Representative Jeanne Schmidt is having a
tough time raising funds for the roughly $500,000 that the House
Ethics Committee fined her to pay, reported Jordy Yager of The Hill.
The Ethics panel told Schmidt last August to repay nearly half a
million dollars in services she accepted from lawyers with the Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF), but she has raised only $5,000 so
far.
In five months the Ohio Republican will leave Congress and will no
longer be required to pay back the money, according to people familiar
with the chamber's ethics rules.
A spokesman for Schmidt did not return a request for comment. But
Schmidt's office pointed to a legal expense fund that she established
as evidence that, `she wants to pay these bills,' according to
previous remarks made to USA Today.
But according to the latest financial filing this week for the fund,
Schmidt did not raise any money from April through June to meet the
Ethics committee's mandate. Schmidt paid down part of the legal debt
with about $43,000 earlier this year.
Read the entire article published in The Hill.
GOP Rep. Schmidt fails to raise funds to pay Ethics panel fines
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/241667-gop-rep-schmidt-fails-to-raise-funds-to-pay-ethics-inquiry-fines
By Jordy Yager - 08/01/12 04:34 PM ET
Since losing her primary election in March, Rep. Jean Schmidt
(R-Ohio) has failed to raise any of the roughly $500,000 that the
House Ethics Committee ordered her to pay.
The Ethics panel told Schmidt last August to repay nearly half a
million dollars in services she accepted from lawyers with the Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF), but she has raised only $5,000 so
far.
In five months the Ohio Republican will leave Congress and will no
longer be required to pay back the money, according to people familiar
with the chamber's ethics rules.
A spokesman for Schmidt did not return a request for comment. But
Schmidt's office pointed to a legal expense fund that she established
as evidence that, `she wants to pay these bills,' according to
previous remarks made to USA Today.
But according to the latest financial filing this week for the fund,
Schmidt did not raise any money from April through June to meet the
Ethics committee's mandate. Schmidt paid down part of the legal debt
with about $43,000 earlier this year.
In its report to the Ethics committee last year, the Office of
Congressional Ethics (OCE) found that the Turkish Coalition of America
(TCA) paid lawyers with the TALDF `approximately $500,000 for legal
services provided to Representative Schmidt' over a two-year period.
The Ethics committee declined to launch a subcommittee to officially
investigate Schmidt, which would have allowed the panel to sanction
the four-term lawmaker.
Instead, committee Chairman Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and ranking member
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) ordered Schmidt to `repay the improper
gift' and authorized her to accept contributions through the `Jean
Schmidt Legal Expense Trust.'
The committee, in its report, said that Schmidt had cooperated
extensively with congressional investigators and was unaware that the
TCA had paid for her legal services.
`Given the evidence that Representative Schmidt lacked knowledge of
the arrangement, the committee does not believe that any sanction is
necessary,' the report stated.
And while her actions technically violated House ethics rules, the
panel concluded that paying back the roughly $500,000 in services
would be sufficient punishment, and it authorized her to raise money
through her legal fund to help do so.
But the only outside contribution to the fund came in January from
Global Eclipse, a Delaware limited liability company that donated
$5,000. And though the Ethics committee approved the company's
contribution, several of Global Eclipse's top managers have Turkish
ties, which raised eyebrows in the press, considering the nature of
the allegations first levied against Schmidt.
Schmidt lost her reelection bid in March to GOP challenger Brad
Wenstrup, who made the shadow of the probe and other ethics questions
central to his campaign against the incumbent lawmaker.
The legal fees that Schmidt was ordered to pay back arose during a
lawsuit she brought in 2010 against her former Democratic opponent
David Krikorian, who she sued, accusing him of making false statements
about her during his campaign for the Ohio seat.
asbarez
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
Rep. Jean Schmidt
WASHINGTON - Embattled GOP Representative Jeanne Schmidt is having a
tough time raising funds for the roughly $500,000 that the House
Ethics Committee fined her to pay, reported Jordy Yager of The Hill.
The Ethics panel told Schmidt last August to repay nearly half a
million dollars in services she accepted from lawyers with the Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF), but she has raised only $5,000 so
far.
In five months the Ohio Republican will leave Congress and will no
longer be required to pay back the money, according to people familiar
with the chamber's ethics rules.
A spokesman for Schmidt did not return a request for comment. But
Schmidt's office pointed to a legal expense fund that she established
as evidence that, `she wants to pay these bills,' according to
previous remarks made to USA Today.
But according to the latest financial filing this week for the fund,
Schmidt did not raise any money from April through June to meet the
Ethics committee's mandate. Schmidt paid down part of the legal debt
with about $43,000 earlier this year.
Read the entire article published in The Hill.
GOP Rep. Schmidt fails to raise funds to pay Ethics panel fines
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/241667-gop-rep-schmidt-fails-to-raise-funds-to-pay-ethics-inquiry-fines
By Jordy Yager - 08/01/12 04:34 PM ET
Since losing her primary election in March, Rep. Jean Schmidt
(R-Ohio) has failed to raise any of the roughly $500,000 that the
House Ethics Committee ordered her to pay.
The Ethics panel told Schmidt last August to repay nearly half a
million dollars in services she accepted from lawyers with the Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF), but she has raised only $5,000 so
far.
In five months the Ohio Republican will leave Congress and will no
longer be required to pay back the money, according to people familiar
with the chamber's ethics rules.
A spokesman for Schmidt did not return a request for comment. But
Schmidt's office pointed to a legal expense fund that she established
as evidence that, `she wants to pay these bills,' according to
previous remarks made to USA Today.
But according to the latest financial filing this week for the fund,
Schmidt did not raise any money from April through June to meet the
Ethics committee's mandate. Schmidt paid down part of the legal debt
with about $43,000 earlier this year.
In its report to the Ethics committee last year, the Office of
Congressional Ethics (OCE) found that the Turkish Coalition of America
(TCA) paid lawyers with the TALDF `approximately $500,000 for legal
services provided to Representative Schmidt' over a two-year period.
The Ethics committee declined to launch a subcommittee to officially
investigate Schmidt, which would have allowed the panel to sanction
the four-term lawmaker.
Instead, committee Chairman Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and ranking member
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) ordered Schmidt to `repay the improper
gift' and authorized her to accept contributions through the `Jean
Schmidt Legal Expense Trust.'
The committee, in its report, said that Schmidt had cooperated
extensively with congressional investigators and was unaware that the
TCA had paid for her legal services.
`Given the evidence that Representative Schmidt lacked knowledge of
the arrangement, the committee does not believe that any sanction is
necessary,' the report stated.
And while her actions technically violated House ethics rules, the
panel concluded that paying back the roughly $500,000 in services
would be sufficient punishment, and it authorized her to raise money
through her legal fund to help do so.
But the only outside contribution to the fund came in January from
Global Eclipse, a Delaware limited liability company that donated
$5,000. And though the Ethics committee approved the company's
contribution, several of Global Eclipse's top managers have Turkish
ties, which raised eyebrows in the press, considering the nature of
the allegations first levied against Schmidt.
Schmidt lost her reelection bid in March to GOP challenger Brad
Wenstrup, who made the shadow of the probe and other ethics questions
central to his campaign against the incumbent lawmaker.
The legal fees that Schmidt was ordered to pay back arose during a
lawsuit she brought in 2010 against her former Democratic opponent
David Krikorian, who she sued, accusing him of making false statements
about her during his campaign for the Ohio seat.