A spokesman for Michael S. Steele defended the new Republican National Committee chairman yesterday against claims by a convicted felon that Steele misused campaign funds from his 2006 Senate bid.
Curt Anderson, a political consultant and Steele spokesman, said the allegations had been "fabricated" by Steele's former campaign finance chairman, who was seeking a more lenient sentence in an unrelated criminal case.
The Washington Post outlined the accusations in yesterday's editions, including a claim that Steele's campaign paid money to a company owned by his sister for services never performed, and the improper use of tens of thousands more in campaign money.
The accusations come from Alan B. Fabian, a former finance committee chairman for Steele's Senate bid, as he was trying to cut a deal with Baltimore-based federal prosecutors. Fabian, of Hunt Valley, was indicted in August 2007 on fraud charges.
Steele denied the allegations through a spokesman. But attorneys said the confidential charges, which appear to have been mistakenly disclosed to a reporter, would dog Steele and endanger Fabian by branding him as a snitch.
"There's the problem of putting the toothpaste back in the tube," said Barry J. Pollack, a criminal defense attorney in Washington. "The government now can't ignore the allegations because the world's watching."
The assertions against Steele were included in a sealed sentencing memorandum filed by Fabian's attorney and erroneously sent by the Maryland U.S. attorney's office to a reporter requesting other documents in the case.
"There is a process here to weigh and evaluate this information before it is made public. That process was violated here," said Maryland Federal Public Defender James Wyda, who represented Fabian. He called the disclosure "devastating" for his client and damaging to the criminal justice system, which he said has a responsibility to protect confidential informants.
"It undermines the system," Wyda said in an e-mail to The Baltimore Sun, adding that the leak has made Fabian vulnerable to an "ugly, dangerous subculture" within federal prison that retaliates against cooperators. Last month, Fabian reported to Pennsylvania federal prison to begin serving a nine-year term for running $40 million worth of scams.
Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, said her office is "not commenting" on the situation or saying how the apparent document mix-up might have happened. She declined to say if an investigation into Steele's finances is under way.
