What went wrong? Using campaign funds for personal legal expenses
In March 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that former U.S. Senator Larry Craig and his campaign committee, Craig for U.S. Senate, unlawfully converted $197,935 in campaign funds to pay for Senator Craig’s personal legal expenses.
In 2007, Senator Craig was arrested for lewd conduct in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and money from the senator’s campaign account was used to pay his legal bills. The defendants claimed that the use was permissible under the Federal Election Campaign Act and under an FEC advisory opinion from 2013 that appeared to approve the use of campaign funds for similar purposes. Read More >>
