3/13/2018

CABINET/ETHICS/GOP/TRUMP PEOPLE/MICK MULVANEY: “When Mick Mulvaney left Congress to join President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in early 2017, he kept his re-election bank account alive and has spent more than $50,000 from it since, including donations to several Republican lawmakers the White House was lobbying.
A watchdog group and a former Federal Election Commission official say the account’s expenditures raise ethical questions about how a senior member of the Trump White House used his leftover campaign funds.
Mulvaney’s campaign, according to filings with the FEC contributed to seven Republican members of Congress who have at times been on the fence over key White House priorities.
His dormant campaign used funds for travel, direct mailings, strategists and catering at a private Republican club on Capitol Hill, according to the FEC filings. It also reimbursed Mulvaney himself for $400 in travel expenses five months after he had joined the administration as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mulvaney is also head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau… Mulvaney and the Office of Management and Budget did not return multiple requests for comment. CNN’s attempts to reach the treasurer of Mulvaney’s campaign, Pat Jenkins, were unsuccessful, including calls to phone numbers she provided in FEC filings.”

-Sara Ganim and Gregory Wallace, “Dormant campaign of top White House official paid out $50,000 last year,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Mar. 13, 2018 01:42pm