Posted on 04/30/2017 7:29:47 PM PDT by Kaslin
Expensed $13,476 in petty cash, hotels, travel after electoral defeat
The campaign committee of former Rep. Corrine Brown (D., Fla.), who is currently on trial for corruption charges, spent thousands on hotels and small travel expenses after Brown was defeated in the Democratic primary last year.
Brown, who lost to former Florida State Sen. Al Lawson in the August 2016 primary, spent $11,278 on "lodging" at a Marriot Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland in late September 2016, nearly one month after the election.
In addition to the hotel expenditures, the campaign disclosed three "petty cash" transactions totaling more than $2,000 during the two-week span between October 16 and November 4.
A small amount ($185) also was spent on travel expenses in Houston, Texas and Jacksonville, Florida.
Thousands more were spent on more typical transactions following an election loss, such as payments to campaign vendors.
Brown and her chief of staff, Elias "Ronnie" Simmons, were indicted in July 2016 on 24 counts of fraud stemming from a sham foundation created by the former congresswoman.
More than $800,000 was deposited into Brown's Virginia-based foundation, One Door for Education, which spent only $1,200 on charity.
Federal authorities found that Brown, Elias, and Carla Wiley, the foundation's president, spent $200,000 of the group's funds on luxury vacations, NFL tickets, plane tickets, car repairs, and lavish events.
Wiley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in March 2016. Simmons pleaded guilty to fraud in February.
An FBI agent testified Wednesday against Brown, saying the money was taken from her foundation and put into a bank account shared by Brown and her daughter.
Last year, the Washington Free Beacon obtained records from the Corrine Brown Legal Expense Trust, finding that Brown had accepted contributions from lobbyists, which is prohibited by House ethics rules.
One of the lobbyists, Michael Korens, provided the Free Beacon with an email from Simmons when asked who solicited the contribution. The email contained a flyer for a fundraising event at Johnny's Half Shell, a now-closed seafood restaurant located on Capitol Hill.
Korens said he was unaware that members of Congress could not accept contributions from lobbyists to cover their legal expenses, and said he called the House ethics committee to self-report the potential violation.
The lobbyists who provided the contributions did not violate House ethics rules. However, legal defense funds are prohibited from accepting such donations, according to House ethics rules.
Brown again solicited donations to her legal defense fund in September, claiming the criminal charges against her were brought due to her efforts to fight racism.
A Brown spokesman previously said he did not know if the fund was approved by the ethics committee to be used on her criminal charges.
Tom Rust, chief counsel of the ethics committee, did not respond to Free Beacon inquiries about whether the fund was approved. Brown could not be reached for comment.
Fight racism? They’ve taken their reparations hundreds of times over and defy anyone to actually punish them for it.
Slam down the Race Card whenever just being a Congressman isnt enough. Ex-Congressman in her case.
She probably sees it as Reparations for slavery.
Crap like this hurts my head just trying to follow the Money trail, then the comprehension on how these people think is overwhelming.
#FreeMoney
I’m guessing Jeff Sessions has bigger fish to fry than “Fmr Dem Rep. Corrine Brown.”
Yow! Really?
Here she is on the floor of the House of Representatives talking about the Florida Gators national championship a few years ago. It is almost too painful to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgbBP9Em00A
Damn! Irvan Myers made histry!
This must be officially the last time a liberal said something nice about “Tim Tivo.”
Word! And LOL!
I worked in a shop in downtown East St. Louis, Illinois, back in high school. Yes, there were businesses there during that time, and people could work and shop there and live to tell of it. A few doors down from us was a wig shop run by Koreans. One day a black woman was trying on wigs and ran out without paying, with a tiny Korean woman in pursuit. She caught up with the thief right in front of our door. The black woman took a swing at the Korean. The Korean did some martial arts magic and the thief was soon laid out on the sidewalk. It was something to see.
Corrine and her wig reminded me of that.
What, Sessions needs to handle this case personally? Please explain why.
The racism issue is just an excuse.
The truth is that politicians like Brown were doing this because that is the example that was set by the TOP on down. Obama, Hillary, Jarrett, their staffs, the tons of government agencies including the IRS, the FBI, the DHS, etc.
Hey, can we start a new organization known as the “Black Congressional in Jail Caucus”?
Shoulda learned from the king and queen of pikers...bill and hill...........
Yep, that truly is hard to watch. I quit at about 57 seconds. But trust me, there is one that’s even worse! See if you can find the clip Rush had on his TV show of a rep-also from FL-by the name of Carrie Meek. Trust me, she made this one sound like a college prof.! I believe she has retired now but was told a son or nephew has taken her place...
That’s one bad Santa hat....
[and Carla Wiley, the foundation’s president]
Wiley? That’s like an ice cream man named “Cone”!
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