A POLITICO analysis found accounts associated with eight late politicians that still have money in the bank, some with hundreds of thousands of dollars, or debts that, according to Federal Election Commission records, remain unpaid
The campaign account for former Rep. John Lewis, who died in 2020, still has $337,995.24 in it as of the end of 2021 | Alex Wong/Getty ImagesIn the latter half of 2021, Rep. Jerry Lewis’ campaign account-turned-PAC spent about $1,350 on PAC campaign compliance — a fairly small amount for a mundane task that would have been utterly boring if not for one curious fact. Lewis is dead.
The ability of the committees of dead politicians to continue paying out money highlights how donations from political supporters can find their way to entities, causes, and individuals far removed from the candidate’s election. Some lawmakers have introduced legislation to limit the time in which and how such money can be spent. But, in the absence of congressional action, experts said the money in a dead politician’s campaign committee can be used with very few guardrails.
As of now, the FEC does not appear to be doing much to police these lingering campaign accounts, nor does their mere existence seem to be breaking any of its rules. The agency considers the expenses incurred in the six months after a lawmaker leaves office to wind down that office to be “ordinary and necessary expenses.” But the half-year timeline is somewhat meaningless.
In other cases, candidates who have died left behind committees with outstanding compliance issues or unresolved IOUs. The account for Rep. John Conyers , who died in 2019, for example, still has about $21,000 in outstanding debt and obligations. In 2014, Block and the campaign settled with the FEC in a case concerning $186,871.98 of prohibited, excessive and other impermissible contributions that were not remedied in adequate time. They agreed to pay a $19,000 civil penalty.The fundraising committee’s treasurer has responsibility over the remaining funds or debt in a given account once the candidate has passed, and akin to an executor of an estate, the treasurer can determine what the account spends its money on.
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