Kristi Willis Former staff member says she is seeking help for spending addiction.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett Austin lawmaker says he and wife are 'shocked, saddened.'
Posted on 02/03/2006 10:52:19 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
AUSTIN, February 3, 2006 — A trusted aide of U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett has admitted to taking at least $166,000 from his campaign coffers and thousands more from other groups, her attorney confirmed on Thursday.
Kristi Willis is a Democratic consultant in Austin who worked for the congressman in his re-election campaigns and in his district office in Austin from late 1998 to 2004, said James Cousar, campaign treasurer for Doggett.
It was during her work with the campaign office from 1999 to the first quarter of 2004 that she embezzled the money, Cousar said.
For a decade, Willis was a friend to Doggett whom he and his wife “would have entrusted with anything we have,” Doggett said in a statement.
“We both are shocked and saddened by her wrongdoing,” he said. “I want her to get the counseling she needs and to restore the supporters’ dollars she took.”
As of Tuesday, Willis had repaid $40,000 to the campaign and had agreed to a long-term repayment plan, Doggett said in the statement.
Willis appears to have spent the money not on big-ticket items but on “everyday living expenses, like grocery stores, restaurants and clothing stores,” said Charles Grigson, Willis’ attorney.
Willis owns a house in Austin worth $254,000, according to Travis County appraisal records. She is selling her car and the house to repay the money she took, Grigson said.
“For Sale” signs were on the lawn of her home on Thursday.
“Kristi Willis deeply regrets her actions and intends to repay all money that was taken without authorization,” Grigson said. “She has a serious personal psychological problem that has manifested itself in a spending addiction for which she is seeking long-term professional help.”
Doggett’s district stretches from Austin to the Rio Grande Valley and includes McAllen. In late 2003, a new Congressional redistricting map was approved and Doggett began campaigning in the Valley for the first time.
About 90 percent of the money was taken from Doggett before 2004, when Doggett’s re-election campaign had yet to reach full swing in the Valley, Cousar said.
“It’s possible that there could have been some funds from contributions in the Valley, but it would be a very small portion of the amount because most of the money was taken before 2004,” Cousar said.
The embezzling appears to be limited to her work with the campaign and did not happen at her work at the district office, Cousar said.
Doggett’s office reported the case to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office in Austin. Willis told the DA’s office she would cooperate with any criminal investigation, Grigson said.
Willis also made at least $10,000 in unauthorized payments to herself in her position as treasurer for Capital Area Democratic Women, said Alicia Butler, president of the political action committee.
Willis has repaid $2,000 to the Democratic Women and has agreed in writing to repay the rest, Butler said.
Grigson confirmed that his client also took $17,000 from the campaign of Andy Brown, an Austin Democrat who was running for a Central Texas House seat.
Willis’ actions were first exposed during an audit of Brown’s campaign, after which time she went to Grigson. She then told Doggett’s staff about the money she took from him, Grigson said.
Doggett has since added safeguards to ensure it does not happen again, he said.
epierson@link.freedom.com
Paging Ronnie Earle!
Lloyd Doggett is an Austin democrat.
A Democrat? What the hell? I thought they were the good guys, can someone explain this to me? ;)
Gee, if there was only some place where she could be kept for a few years to keep her from acting on her spending addiction......
Austin Tx Dims are about as scummy as they come. Ronnie Earle the SAINT must just be busting at the seams to take this to trial............... ;)
Democrats prefer it when you steal from the taxpayers instead of stealing from their campaign contributors. It is unusually magananamous of them to be so forgiving of her and wanting to get her the psychological help she needs. (Of course if she really were to get the psychological help she needs, she would no longer be a democrat.)
He's in the "Doggett House" now.
Dog Get Ping!
Why is stealing from Doggett considered a crime?
Well shoot, I buy myself a $254,000 house everyday. It's amazing how this is being spun as simple wrongdoing. I'm sure all those Enron fellers need is a little counseling too.
NOT....
Kristi Willis Former staff member says she is seeking help for spending addiction.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett Austin lawmaker says he and wife are 'shocked, saddened.'
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