WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission has recently made public its final action on three matters previously under review (MURs). The Commission dismissed matters related to Bryan Kennedy for Congress (WI/5), Bob Etheridge for Congress (NC/2) and Michael and Geraldine Buckles and Kerry-Edwards 2004 Inc. This release contains only disposition information.
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MUR 5683 |
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RESPONDENT: |
(a) Bryan Kennedy for Congress (WI/05), Ruth Page Jones, treasurer
(b) Bryan L. Kennedy |
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COMPLAINANT: |
Ross deRozier-Alves
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SUBJECT: |
Personal use of campaign funds
The complainant alleged that in 2004, respondent Bryan Kennedy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and a candidate for Congress, used his campaign cell phone for personal use. The complaint stated that Mr. Kennedy scheduled interviews for hiring an instructor on behalf of UWM using his campaign committee’s cell phone. Mr. Kennedy responded by noting that he personally owned the cell phone at issue and he used it in the course of hiring one instructor because he expected to be unreachable by other means when a return call was expected. Additionally, the Bryan Kennedy for Congress Committee only paid for those portions of the phone bill that were attributed to campaign use. |
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DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Documents from this matter are available from the Commission’s web site at http://www.fec.gov by entering 5683 under case number in the Enforcement Query System. They are also available in the FEC’s Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington. |
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2. |
MUR 5695 |
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RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Bob Etheridge for Congress Committee (NC/02), Andrea Bell,treasurer
(b) Bob Etheridge |
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COMPLAINANT: |
Linda Shook
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SUBJECT: |
Personal use of campaign funds
The complaint alleged that the campaign committee used $21,664 in campaign funds to pay the candidate’s personal state and federal income taxes. The respondents denied the allegations and provided evidence supporting their contention that the expenditures were directly related to the campaign committee’s federal and state income tax obligations for interest earned on campaign bank accounts, insurance for an event, and accounting services related to the campaign’s payroll taxes.
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DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Documents from this matter are available from the Commission’s web site at http://www.fec.gov by entering 5695 under case number in the Enforcement Query System. They are also available in the FEC’s Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington. |
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3. |
MUR 5696 |
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RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Michael H. R. Buckles
(b) Geraldine Buckles
(c) Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc., David Thorne, treasurer |
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COMPLAINANT: |
Robert F. Tulloch |
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SUBJECT: |
Excessive contribution
The complainant alleged that Michael and Geraldine Buckles exceeded the contributions limits in their contributions to John Kerry’s primary and general election committees. The complaint states that based upon disclosure reports, the respondents each exceeded the contribution limits by $2,000. Kerry-Edwards 2004 Inc. responded that its database showed that Michael and Geraldine each gave two $2,000 contributions to the primary committee. In both cases the second contribution was intended to be made to the Kerry-Edwards 2004 General Election Legal & Accounting Compliance Fund (GELAC). The committee further explained that due to a banking error, the contributions made by credit card were misdirected to the primary committee account rather than the GELAC as intended by the contributors. The primary committee in September 2004 transferred the funds to the GELAC account following the discovery of the error. The remedial transactions were reported on GELAC’s October 2004 monthly report.
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DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Documents from this matter are available from the Commission’s web site at http://www.fec.gov by entering 5696 under case number in the Enforcement Query System. They are also available in the FEC’s Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington. |
