Memphis Commercial Appeal - Blackburn Campaign Admits Finance Glitch
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Tuesday acknowledged failing to report more than a quarter-million dollars in campaign expenditures over the past six years while at the same time failing to report $102,044 in contributions.
Blackburn, seeking her fourth term and facing both Republican and Democratic opponents, told The Commercial Appeal she plans to reveal the errant Federal Election Commission reporting in a series of amendments to disclosure reports dating back to her first run for Congress in 2002.
She sought to put the best face on the embarrassing revelation by saying that her own campaign staff -- including her daughter-fundraiser, Mary Morgan Ketchel -- discovered the discrepancy in 2005 and that her campaign committee voluntarily reported it to the FEC's Office of General Counsel. She did that, she said, even though some of the activity occurred so long ago it would not now be considered a violation.
"We have sought the FEC's guidance and we've worked with them every step of the way," Blackburn said.
"There are a lot of people out there who are frustrated with politicians that don't do what they say they're going to do or maybe even try to live by a different set of rules," Blackburn said. "This is an indication of how diligently my team and I will work to make certain that we fulfill our responsibility to those that we serve."
Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the FEC, said he could not comment on potential "enforcement actions."
Tom Leatherwood, her Republican challenger and the Shelby County Register of Deeds, called the admissions "phenomenal."
In a written statement, Leatherwood added: "While many families are struggling just to make the monthly budget in this poor economy, Congressman Blackburn has misplaced over a quarter of a million dollars. If we can't trust her to manage her own budget, how can we trust her to manage our tax dollars?"
The 7th congressional district includes parts of eastern Shelby County and stretches to the Nashville suburbs. Blackburn is from Brentwood.
Gray Sasser, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, which will have a candidate in the general election race in November, called the revelations "troubling" and "disturbing," adding, "she needs to, at the bare minimum, comply with the law."
It was not Blackburn's first problem with the commission that regulates campaign spending. In March 2006, her campaign committee paid a $1,500 fine and entered into a negotiated settlement in a dispute with the FEC after an inquiry found it underreported contributions by more than $61,800.
Campaign spokesman Darcy Anderson said that she believes the 2006 underreporting is part of the financial reconciliation acknowledged by Blackburn Tuesday.
Her political action committee, WedgePAC, was also cited for making an excessive contribution to her campaign that year. Its treasurer at the time was her son-in-law.
At a conference room in the National Republican Congressional Committee offices, Blackburn released a summary of the amendments her campaign will be making to correct the record. It indicates unreported contributions of $102,044, most from the 2002 campaign; unreported expenditures of $286,278; and "routine accounting errors" of $52,024.
Among the unreported expenditures were $18,821 to Paul and Mary Morgan Ketchel and $3,753 to either her husband Chuck, her son Chad or herself. This newspaper reported in 2006 that her campaign committee and political action committee had reported payments of more than $123,000 to her lobbyist son-in-law's company for consulting.
Asked if she expects some political fallout or a falloff in donations after the admissions, Blackburn was again upbeat.
"I think this is one of those things that's going to end up being a helpful thing for us," she said. "We chose to do this. We brought it forward."