Prometheus 6

Even Republicans can't trust Republicans. That's why you have to keep these suckers out of the national treasury.

GOP Campaign Arm Missing Cash
FBI Investigating Treasurer Fired Over Lack of Auditing
By Paul Kane and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 7, 2008; A04

Authorities investigating possible fraud by a longtime GOP operative have determined that the House Republican campaign committee has lost a substantial sum of money, and several GOP lawmakers believe funds were pilfered from their campaign accounts as well, law enforcement and Capitol Hill sources said yesterday.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the House Republicans' campaign arm, lost a "significant amount of money," said a law enforcement official who also confirmed that the FBI has begun investigating the committee's longtime treasurer, Christopher J. Ward.

An official close to the NRCC said preliminary reviews of its bank statements and reports to the Federal Election Commission demonstrate clear discrepancies between "what [money] we have and what we should have."

"We don't know if it's a big number or a small number," the official said. "It looks like something was stolen. But we don't have an accurate number. We don't know."

Ward has served as treasurer for dozens of other campaigns and political action committees during a lengthy career as a political operative. He was fired in late January after the committee discovered that no independent audits of the organization's books had been performed since 2003.

The committee announced that it had asked the FBI to investigate and, in a statement, said the "irregularities" uncovered after its own audit "may include fraud."

Ronald C. Machen, an attorney for Ward, did not return a telephone call or respond to an e-mail seeking comment yesterday evening.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex.), head of the NRCC's auditing subcommittee, said yesterday that he has spoken with several lawmakers who said their political committees were victimized as well. He declined to name those lawmakers but said they are conducting similarly intensive financial reviews to determine how much money might be missing.