Local connections in big National Republican Congressional Commitee scandal
The Politico has some word on a big story that’s been under the radar a bit so far, an investigation of serious fraud at the NRCC:
Top House Republicans were told in recent days that a former employee of their campaign committee may have forged an official audit during the contentious 2006 election cycle and that they should brace for the possibility that an unfolding investigation could uncover financial improprieties stretching back several years, according to GOP sources briefed on the members-only discussions.
[...]
The NRCC internal investigation centers on Christopher J. Ward, a former NRCC treasurer who worked at the committee until mid-August of last year, according to those briefed on the matter. From that time until late December, Ward was an outside contractor for the NRCC, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The FBI, which was informed about the matter last week, did not respond to calls for comment.
As treasurer, Ward was in charge of NRCC bookkeeping, tracking tens of millions of dollars in political contributions and expenditures. He has been at the center of NRCC bookkeeping for more than a decade.
The local connections here are the following:
- * Tom Reynolds was the head of the NRCC in 2006.
- * Real Clear Politics noted earlier this week that Ward served as treasurer “for campaign committees and leadership PACs including those of Reps. Jim Walsh…” (h/t TPM).
I think it’s fair to wonder if the retirement of Jim Walsh had something to do with the fact his campaign treasurer is under FBI investigation.
The role of Tom Reynolds in all of this isn’t clear yet. You may recall that he came off looking okay in later accounts of the Tom Foley scandal.
In any case, this investigation bears watching.
Republicans? Scandal? Oh the shame!
[...] Yesterday, we told you about an accounting scandal at the National Republican Congressional Committee, a scandal with a distinctly local twist: it centers on CJ Ward, who was the treasurer for both Jim Walsh and the NRCC, and it happened while Tom Reynolds was heading up the NRCC. Today, new details emerged (from the Politico): Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), a certified public accountant, had pushed for months for an internal audit of the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to GOP members, but the committee’s treasurer at the time was reluctant. [...]
[...] This could be big. For some background on the scandal see our earlier posts (here; here). [...]
[...] commenced coverage of this audit issue on February 6th, and continued on the 8th. Tuesday, with Exile’s post, the impact on Tom Reynolds began to be [...]