Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Campaign Panel Investigates California Lawmaker's Spending
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
August 30, 2019

Share

SACRAMENTO — California’s campaign watchdog said Thursday that it’s investigating allegations that a sitting state lawmaker used campaign funds to fly his family to a Boston Red Sox baseball game, among other purported examples of lavish spending.

“I’ve been advised by the FPPC that they have not made any determination about the validity of the allegations made or about the culpability, if any, of any person.” — Assemblyman Bill Brough
The Fair Political Practices Commission released a letter saying it is reviewing allegations that Republican Assemblyman Bill Brough of Dana Point improperly used campaign funds to benefit himself and his family.
The panel’s chief enforcement officer, Galena West, said commissioners have not determined whether the allegations have any merit, something Brough pointed out in a brief statement he released Thursday night to The Associated Press.
“I’ve been advised by the FPPC that they have not made any determination about the validity of the allegations made or about the culpability, if any, of any person” Brough said.
In June Brough separately denied allegations that he made unwanted advances toward four women, calling them politically motivated. Two of those allegations had previously been investigated and found unsubstantiated.
The latest complaint was filed by conservative activist and blogger Aaron Park.

Allegations That Brough Improperly Used His Campaign Fund

He says campaign spending records show Brough “took a two-day pleasure trip” to Boston with his wife and two children in 2017 to take in a Red Sox game before joining other members of the Legislature’s informal “Irish Caucus” in Ireland. He alleges that Brough improperly used his campaign fund to pay more than $2,700 for airfare and a hotel.
Park says campaign records show Brough’s campaign paid more than $13,000 in cellphone bills for himself and his family since 2015 even though he uses his phone for personal as well as campaign business.
He also questioned spending on cigars, a humidor, liquor cabinet, and more than $177,000 for food and drinks since 2015.
The $1,310 humidor and cigars were labeled “office expenses” on an official disclosure form, the complaint alleges.
It says he also used campaign funds to pay for a $1,320 “custom-made, luxury liquor cabinet/bar made from a bourbon barrel,” but that there was no legitimate legislative or political purpose to justify the expense.
Some of the alleged “extravagant restaurant tabs” ran to $300 or more per person, far above the maximum $200 per person guideline set by the commission, Park alleges. He says Brough generally labeled his more than 155 bar and restaurant tabs as strategy meetings.

DON'T MISS

Family Fun, Community Events Highlight Cinco de Mayo Weekend in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Magical ‘Aladdin’ Delivers Magic Carpet Ride and Dad-Joke Humor

DON'T MISS

Over 2,000 Arrested in US Campus Pro-Palestinian Protests

DON'T MISS

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

DON'T MISS

These Two Fresno Pacific Students Faced Challenges. They’ll Graduate on Saturday.

DON'T MISS

Crawford Goes 7 Innings, Wong Has 3 Hits, and Red Sox Beat Giants

DON'T MISS

WNBA Teams Look for Bigger Arenas When Caitlin Clark Comes to Town

DON'T MISS

Biden Expands Two National Monuments in California Significant to Tribal Nations

DON'T MISS

Boxer Ryan Garcia Denies Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs After Beating Devin Haney

DON'T MISS

Yamamoto Shines Again as Dodgers Blank Diamondbacks

UP NEXT

Police Dismantle UCLA Tent Camp, Take Pro-Palestinian Protesters Into Custody

UP NEXT

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

UP NEXT

Biden’s Historic Marijuana Shift Is His Latest Election Year Move for Young Voters

UP NEXT

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

UP NEXT

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Vows to Force a Vote on Ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson

UP NEXT

Protesters Clash at UCLA After Police Arrest 300 Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators in New York City

UP NEXT

Dems: We Will Save GOP Speaker Johnson’s Job if Republicans Try to Oust Him

UP NEXT

Campaign to Build New California City Submits Signatures to Get on November Ballot

UP NEXT

Hush Money Trial Enters 3rd Week, Begins With Gag Order Ruling and $9K Fine for Trump

UP NEXT

Study Says California’s 2023 Snowy Megadrought Rescue Was a Freak Event

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

1 hour ago

These Two Fresno Pacific Students Faced Challenges. They’ll Graduate on Saturday.

Local Education /

3 hours ago

Crawford Goes 7 Innings, Wong Has 3 Hits, and Red Sox Beat Giants

3 hours ago

WNBA Teams Look for Bigger Arenas When Caitlin Clark Comes to Town

3 hours ago

Biden Expands Two National Monuments in California Significant to Tribal Nations

3 hours ago

Boxer Ryan Garcia Denies Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs After Beating Devin Haney

3 hours ago

Yamamoto Shines Again as Dodgers Blank Diamondbacks

3 hours ago

Peloton Cutting About 400 Jobs Worldwide; CEO McCarthy Stepping Down

3 hours ago

Senators Want Limits on Government’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology for Airport Screening

4 hours ago

Biden Says ‘Order Must Prevail’ on Campuses, but He Won’t Send National Guard

4 hours ago

Family Fun, Community Events Highlight Cinco de Mayo Weekend in Fresno

May is starting with a bang when it comes to events. Rapper YG, the entertaining baseball team Savannah Bananas, Grammy winners Ozomatli, an...

23 mins ago

23 mins ago

Family Fun, Community Events Highlight Cinco de Mayo Weekend in Fresno

1 hour ago

Magical ‘Aladdin’ Delivers Magic Carpet Ride and Dad-Joke Humor

1 hour ago

Over 2,000 Arrested in US Campus Pro-Palestinian Protests

1 hour ago

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

Local Education /
3 hours ago

These Two Fresno Pacific Students Faced Challenges. They’ll Graduate on Saturday.

3 hours ago

Crawford Goes 7 Innings, Wong Has 3 Hits, and Red Sox Beat Giants

3 hours ago

WNBA Teams Look for Bigger Arenas When Caitlin Clark Comes to Town

3 hours ago

Biden Expands Two National Monuments in California Significant to Tribal Nations

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend