INDIANAPOLIS – In a breaking news report from Politico Pro this afternoon, it’s revealed that Congressman Todd Young’s 2010 campaign paid more than $30,000 in fines, including one fine of $22,000 for accepting nearly $100,000 in prohibited donations.
Key Points:
“GOP Rep. Todd Young‘s campaign paid more than $30,000 in fines and penalties nearly four years ago for failing to file required FEC reports during his 2010 campaign…the fines, some of which have not been previously reported, shed light on the less-disciplined campaign that Young ran during his first run for the House in 2010.
“Young paid fines for two separate record-keeping mishaps. The FEC unanimously voted in 2012 to fine Young’s campaign $8,670 for failing to report more than $75,000 in contributions to the FEC within 48 hours of receiving them in the final weeks of the 2010 campaign. At around the same time, Young’s campaign voluntarily agreed to pay nearly $17,000, as well as a $5,000 civil penalty, for inadvertently accepting nearly $95,000 in excessive contributions.”
Young’s campaign blamed bad management at the time. “Respondents contend the campaign committee, in its first campaign, was staffed by volunteers with little or no oversight by experience managers,” the negotiated settlement reads.
Bayh’s campaign argues that the Young’s sloppy bookkeeping is another part of the case against him.” From taking campaign contributions from Carrier after they announced they were outsourcing more than 1,000 Hoosier jobs, to spending $600,000 of taxpayer money to promote himself, to these fines from the FEC, it’s clear that Congressman Young has made a habit out of ignoring what’s right in favor of helping himself,” Ben Ray, a Bayh campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
Politico Pro: Young paid $30,000 in FEC fines after 2010 campaign
By Theodoric Meyer
October 13, 2016
GOP Rep. Todd Young‘s campaign paid more than $30,000 in fines and penalties nearly four years ago for failing to file required FEC reports during his 2010 campaign.
Young’s 2016 Senate campaign says its bookkeeping difficulties are in the past, and that Young has kept meticulous campaign finance records in his current Senate race against former Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh. But the fines, some of which have not been previously reported, shed light on the less-disciplined campaign that Young ran during his first run for the House in 2010.
Young paid fines for two separate record-keeping mishaps. The FEC unanimously voted in 2012 to fine Young’s campaign $8,670 for failing to report more than $75,000 in contributions to the FEC within 48 hours of receiving them in the final weeks of the 2010 campaign. At around the same time, Young’s campaign voluntarily agreed to pay nearly $17,000, as well as a $5,000 civil penalty, for inadvertently accepting nearly $95,000 in excessive contributions.
Young’s campaign blamed bad management at the time. “Respondents contend the campaign committee, in its first campaign, was staffed by volunteers with little or no oversight by experience managers,” the negotiated settlement reads. “After the election, the Committee hired experienced staff, and revised financial procedures, including consistent bank reconciliations, an automated donor database, weekly reports and compliance training.”
Trevor Foughty, Young’s campaign manager, who was not working for Young during the 2010 cycle, readily admits that Young’s 2010 campaign did not do a good job of bookkeeping at the time. After he started with Young, “we knew that there was a problem from the first campaign and we worked with them to get it rectified,” Foughty said in an interview.
Bayh’s campaign argues that the Young’s sloppy bookkeeping is another part of the case against him.
“From taking campaign contributions from Carrier after they announced they were outsourcing more than 1,000 Hoosier jobs, to spending $600,000 of taxpayer money to promote himself, to these fines from the FEC, it’s clear that Congressman Young has made a habit out of ignoring what’s right in favor of helping himself,” Ben Ray, a Bayh campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
There’s no indication that Young’s troubles during the 2010 campaign have continued into Young’s current campaign.
While the FEC has continued to flag potential excessive contributions to Young’s campaign this cycle, the campaign has 60 days to resolve the issue under FEC rules, and Foughty said the campaign had been vigilant about doing so.
“We’re really by the book and strict,” Foughty said. The Young campaign hired compliance consultant, Kevin Broghamer, to clean up the mess of the 2010 campaign, and he still does the campaign’s books.
“We’ve got all sorts of stuff in place to make sure these issues don’t happen again,” Foughty said.
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