Please Support MyDD Today

Some great reporting from Patrick O'Connor and John Bresnahan got caught up in the madness that was Super Tuesday:

Top House Republicans were told in recent days that a former employee of their campaign committee may have forged an official audit during the contentious 2006 election cycle and that they should brace for the possibility that an unfolding investigation could uncover financial improprieties stretching back several years, according to GOP sources briefed on the members-only discussions.

[...]

The precise details of the suspected accounting irregularities and their possible fallout are not entirely clear. NRCC officials and top GOP leaders are being tight-lipped in large part because the FBI is investigating the matter. An outside lawyer advising members and staff has warned everyone at the committee to keep quiet.

[...]

The NRCC internal investigation centers on Christopher J. Ward, a former NRCC treasurer who worked at the committee until mid-August of last year, according to those briefed on the matter. From that time until late December, Ward was an outside contractor for the NRCC, according to Federal Election Commission records.

[...]

As treasurer, Ward was in charge of NRCC bookkeeping, tracking tens of millions of dollars in political contributions and expenditures. He has been at the center of NRCC bookkeeping for more than a decade.

Ward also served as treasurer for numerous other Republican campaigns and leadership political action committees, according to FEC records.

[...]

Ward has been with the committee in some capacity since 1993, according to FEC records. He was listed as the committee's treasurer between 1993 and 2003, according to the same campaign finance data.

[...]

Over the years, Ward has also served as the official treasurer for numerous congressional Republicans, their PACs and other GOP candidates running for Congress.

They include retiring Reps. Jim Saxton of New Jersey, James T. Walsh of New York and Jerry Weller of Illinois, as well as Reps. Steve Buyer of Indiana, Phil English of Pennsylvania and Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, among many others.

He was also listed as the treasurer for incarcerated former Ohio Rep. Bob Ney's American Liberty PAC.

For as many details as I quote here (and I've quoted a significantly larger portion of this article than I almost ever do with other articles), there is a lot more available at the link above.

This is just simply awful news for House Republicans. I'm not sure how it could be worse. You look at the fundraising numbers and you see that the NRCC finally was able to pull itself out of debt after more than a year trying, and now it's hit with a federal investigation centering on the alleged fraud of the committee's long time treasurer (who also served as treasurer for the PAC of the seriously ethically challenged Bob Ney). With the feds sniffing around the offices of the committee and forensic accountants digging through committee records, does anyone really believe that the NRCC is going to have any chance of erasing the $31 million deficit it has relative to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee? House Republicans may finally have a genuine pick up opportunity as the result of a Democratic retirement, but if they have no money and a campaign committee worrying about other things, it's hard to see them successfully defending their seats, let alone making inroads in bluish districts in states like Oregon.