Crew

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann broke House rules by using her taxpayer-funded website to urge people to attend her Nov. 5 “Super Bowl of Freedom” rally, according to a complaint by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Being out of office has its privileges. One consolation for Norm Coleman after finally conceding defeat to Al Franken: seeing ethics complaints and investigations in his rearview mirror.

Norm Coleman may not dip into his campaign coffers to cover all his expenses stemming from lawsuits and other complaints that allege misconduct by him or his donors. That’s the upshot of draft advisory opinions issued Thursday by the Federal Election Commission.

Win or lose his pending election appeal, Norm Coleman has other legal matters to worry about: several allegations contained in lawsuits and other formal complaints about improper or unreported gifts and favors from wealthy friends. And a new federal ruling in the case of another pol looks like it won’t help Coleman.

A clothes-shopping spree that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin started in Minnesota didn’t break the law, in the opinion of the Federal Election Commission, even though it was paid for by the GOP.

Norm Coleman shouldn’t be able to use campaign funds to pay lawyers for work related to cases in which he’s not a defendant and hasn’t even been called as a witness. That’s what Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) told the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today.

Norm Coleman used media coverage of his dealings with friend and benefactor Nasser Kazeminy to argue to the Federal Election Commission that he should be able to spend campaign cash to fight two lawsuits that implicate him in a cash-funneling scheme.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington picked their list (PDF) of the nine most embarrassing reelected members of Congress. Among the Democrats and Republicans featured in the watchdog group’s booklet, Rep. Michele Bachmann gets top billing (they listed members in alphabetical order).
CREW noted the controversy created when Bachmann appeared on MSNBC and questioned the [...]

The Internal Revenue Service is investigating whether Living Word Christian Center violated the law for favorable compensation and loan dealings it gave to church founder and pastor Mac Hammond. Those compensation and loan dealings were first reported by the Minnesota Independent in February 2007.

The church has resisted demands by the IRS to open its books for an audit, and the agency filed a petition in United States District Court ordering the church to comply. Earlier this month, a magistrate ordered the church to appear and explain its refusal to comply with the IRS. In response to a summons in March, a church attorney told the IRS they would not comply until “an appropriate high-level IRS official” using “reasonable belief” requested information.

A legal firm representing the banking group involved in the 2003 financial assessment of Living Word Christian Center (LWCC) has sent a cease and desist letter to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).  The letter demands that CREW remove the financial documents associated with LWCC’s ministry from the web site, where they [...]