Audit alleges misuse of Pombo campaign money

An audit of former Rep. Richard Pombo's 2004 campaign committee showed misappropriated money, excessive contributions from American Indian groups, prohibited contributions from corporations and incomplete disclosure of who made contributions to Pombo's 2004 congressional campaign.

The Federal Elections Commission made eight findings, including one in which Pombo's wife apparently paid herself $18,752 for her personal use, which would be illegal under federal campaign law.

Pombo said Thursday that the violations in the audit report amount to bookkeeping mistakes. He said his committee corrected each mistake, paid back inappropriate contributions and filed proper disclosure and tax forms.

"All of their concerns were addressed, and we responded in the way they wanted us to," he said. "I didn't necessarily agree with the conclusions they came to. They didn't find anything that was not reported or out of the norm."

Pombo's committee was one of 23 campaign committees the Federal Election Commission audited for the 2004 campaign year. The audit report, released last month, spells out some of the rules Pombo's committee broke and how the committee responded.

Bob Beirsack, spokesman for the FEC, said the commission does the audits when it has reason to believe a campaign committee has mishandled its money. He didn't say what specifically led to the audit of Pombo's campaign committee. It might or might not be related to any of the eight findings in the audit report, he said.

He said audits sometimes lead to enforcement action, but he would not say if the FEC has taken any further action in the case.

The campaign committee, which included Pombo's wife, Annette, and brother Randall, raised $1.1 million and spent a little more than $1 million in 2003 and 2004. Expenses included $58,623 paid to Annette Pombo. That included the $18,752 the FEC said appeared to be for personal use.

Upon further examination, the commission found $11,722 that the committee listed as part of Annette Pombo's salary, but that was never reported on her income tax forms.

Another $7,030 was reimbursement for expenses, which Pombo said was related to a campaign fundraising event. In that case, the committee's records included canceled checks and credit card statements, but not receipts.

"Out of a million dollars (raised and spent), they found a dozen things where we didn't have receipts," Pombo said.

The committee agreed that Annette Pombo would file amended tax forms that would list the $18,752 as part of her taxable income for 2003.

The election commission also found that contributions from individuals and American Indian tribes exceeded limits by $26,400. That could be allowed if the excess contributions were diverted to the candidate's committee for a later election or if the donations were attributed to multiple individuals.

Pombo said there was confusion about whether the contributions were from political action committees or from individuals.

"When it was discovered that some contributed more than they were legally allowed it was returned," he said.

The committee sent back all but $4,000 to donors. Of the remaining money, $2,000 was put in an account for a later campaign and the campaign committee provided proof that the other $2,000 was not an excessive contribution.

Pombo said his committee took similar action when the FEC found that he'd collected $7,228 from corporations, which would be a violation of federal elections law. The campaign committee showed that it refunded $4,853 back to 10 corporate donors. The FEC later received statements from the other two donors, which said the money came from "non-incorporated sources."

The FEC also found that 28 percent of the committee's itemized contributions did not include contributors' occupations or the names of their employers, which violated rules. The campaign committee blamed a computer software program for the omission, and the committee later amended its reports with that information.

Contact reporter Bob Brownne at brownne@tracypress.com.