In 2022, the spotlight has been turned on our elected officials. Many Americans have been questioning how so many politicians get so wealthy, and in such short spans of time.
The salaries clearly don’t tell the whole story, and it also seems that the families of these politicos benefit in a variety of ways. Of course, how families handle their private finances is their business.
However, When Those Finances Involve Campaign Funds, It Becomes A Public Issue.
That’s why the Federal Election Commission (FEC) makes funding data public: it acts as a watchdog and tries to protect against corruption in our elected officials, regardless of their position.
Even so, politicians routinely find ways around the rules.
For example, California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters has reportedly handed out thousands to her family, but still claims all these dealings are above board. The problem is, the FEC might take issue with this claim.
Via The Daily Caller:
Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters paid her daughter over $15,000 with campaign funds during the most recent quarter, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) numbers reviewed by the Daily Caller.
The latest FEC records show Waters is still paying her daughter Karen Waters a total of $16,500 during Q2 from April 1 through June 30.
The records became available July 15. The purpose of the payments on the FEC records says ‘Slate Mailer Management Fee.’
Evidently, Rep. Waters labeled these payments as a “Slate Mailer Management Fee,” which may or may not be accurate.
This isn’t the first example of Waters doling out cash to her family, and all allegedly straight from her campaign funds coffer. In fact, the reports of payments to family members go back years.
In 2018, there was the story of how the California Democrat payed her daughter over $100,000 in campaign funds during that election cycle.
FEC records also showed that Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) gave her family “tens of thousands” after getting into Congress. And according to the Daily Caller, this activity hasn’t stopped since the report came out.
Numerous politicians are obviously taking advantage of their fundraising, and the FEC has evidence that at least some of that money is being used for personal purposes.
Campaign funding is supposed to go towards the individual’s election bid and cannot be used simply as personal income, but it seems clear that multiple elected officials have found plenty of loopholes.
This could be having an impact on America’s declining trust in politicians and government, as shown by many polls and surveys in recent years.