Campaign Funds

The $7,000 in campaign funds given to Gov. Martin O'Malley by a tax evader and former political appointee was sent today to Farmers and Hunters Helping the Hungry, said Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for the governor. The tainted political donation was given by Richard Stewart, a Prince George's County businessman who pleaded guilty last month to failing to pay nearly $4 million in social security and payroll taxes for his employees. Stewart also was one of O'Malley's appointees to the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Committee and on the board of the Stadium Authority.    Maryland's Republican Party noted between 2003 and 2008, the period in which Stewart was not paying taxes, the businessman donated nearly $75,000 to Democratic elected officials and called on the funds to be returned.

What does the article, "House passes bill to widen uses of campaign funds" (March 8) convey to us? Maybe we need a new bill passed which would allow candidates to use campaign funds to pamper themselves with new hair styles and to clothe themselves with new outfits to wear when attending these professional conferences that they've now entitled themselves to. Maybe Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard and the other 109 delegates who voted in favor of...

The House of Delegates approved a bill Thursday that would allow political candidates to use campaign funds to pay for the cost of attending professional conferences. The legislation, sponsored by Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard, a Prince George's County Democrat, passed on a vote of 110-27. It now goes to the Senate. The bill would let incumbent officeholders and candidates use their campaign funds to pay for the travel, lodging, meal and registration costs of conferences focused on policy issues related to the office they hold or are seeking.

The House of Delegates approved a bill Thursday that would allow political candidates to use campaign funds to pay for the cost of attending professional conferences. The legislation, sponsored by Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard, a Prince George's County Democrat, passed on a vote of 110-27. It now goes to the Senate. The bill would let incumbent officeholders and candidates use their campaign funds to pay for the travel, lodging, meal and registration costs of conferences focused on policy issues related to the office they hold or are seeking.

The state attorney general's office has said that Sen. Ulysses Currie may not use campaign funds to pay for his legal defense in a federal investigation if the probe "relates to his conduct in office" - as it appears to do. Last month, the Prince George's County Democrat asked the State Board of Elections whether he could use campaign funds to pay his attorneys in connection with the federal investigation into his previously undisclosed consulting work...

Public disclosure of a quietly arranged loan ended former Baltimore County Councilman Gary Huddles' political career in 1985, and questions about another quiet loan he used to pay stock market losses continue to dog the 52-year-old lawyer.Huddles must stand trial in November on two counts of a three-count indictment that allege he stole $50,379 from his own leftover campaign funds in 1987. He paid back the money in 1989 and 1990, and all of the $90,000 fund was later returned to contributors or distributed to charities.

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. used $168,000 of leftover campaign funds to pay for defense attorneys for Paul Schurick, his longtime aide who was convicted on charges of electoral fraud rising out of Ehrlich's failed run against Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2010. The payments were outlined in a campaign finance report filed last week by the Bob Ehrlich for Maryland Committee, which remains in operation. Ehrlich has said he intends to stay out of Maryland electoral politics. The money paid to four law firms that took part in Schurick's defense made up the bulk of. the committee's spending last year.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Van Hollen's campaign has raised $300,000 since he began exploring a run for the Senate next year, according to the congressman. Van Hollen raised a total of $338,000 in the first quarter of this year and has a total of $713,000 in his campaign account. Another Democrat considering the race, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, raised $60,000 during the same period and has $215,000 total. Kweisi Mfume, the former congressman and head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who has declared his candidacy, transferred $103,000 from his old campaign account into his new Senate fund.

If it's legal for former Baltimore County Councilman Gary Huddles to use $50,000 of his political campaign committee's money to salvage a personal stock market investment, then why is Anthony J. Cicoria, a former Prince George's councilman, serving five years in prison for taking $64,000 from his campaign?The legal reason is that Huddles only borrowed the money and repaid it before the state prosecutor got the case. Cicoria, on the other hand, didn't pay his committee back before trial, and the Court of Special Appeals recently upheld his conviction.

WASHINGTON -- Republican Senate candidate Alan L. Keyes of Maryland is paying himself a salary of $8,500 a month from campaign funds, according to campaign officials and finance reports.Although it is an unusual practice, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) cannot decide whether or not it is legal.Keyes campaign officials said that their attorney had advised them that the practice is legal."He's not independently wealthy," said campaign spokesman Sean Paige, adding that Mr. Keyes, 41, needed the money to pay his mortgage and feed his family.

Another Maryland politician has broken the law and is, nonetheless, trying to hold on to elected office. Del. Tiffany Alston this week agreed to a plea deal that allowed her to avoid trial on charges that she misused money from her campaign funds to pay for her wedding and resulted in a one-year suspended sentence for an earlier conviction on charges of misconduct in office related to her theft of $800 from the General Assembly to pay expenses in...

An agreement for a plea Wednesday afternoon by Prince George's County Del. Tiffany Alston appears to have collapsed — though her lawyers maintained that it remains a "possibility" even as they continued negotiations with prosecutors. "It's a possibility. We're talking and that's good, so the possibility still looms [for an agreement]," said J. Wyndal Gordon, one of the attorneys for the freshman lawmaker from Bowie. Last week, both sides indicated that they had an agreement that would cover two sets of criminal charges against Alston.

Even amid an economic downturn that has many parishes struggling and a declining enrollment that prompted the closing of many Catholic schools, the Archdiocese of Baltimore is confident it can raise $100 million during its first capital campaign in 15 years. Archbishop William E. Lori, who took over leadership of the nation's oldest archdiocese in May, launched the Embracing our Mission — Shaping our Future campaign Wednesday with an inner-city school newly renovated for $1.5 million and its students in the background.

Remember former Mayor Sheila Dixon's Jimmy Choo shoes and closetful of fur coats? Who could forget — except, perhaps, Washington, D.C., City Council President Kwame R. Brown, who resigned from office this week after federal prosecutors charged him with bank fraud and misuse of campaign funds. Mr. Brown's troubles allegedly began when he needed money for a second mortgage, a 40-foot power boat and, yes, a closetful of fancy clothes and shoes. Mr. Brown's resignation comes just a few months after another D.C. council member, Harry L. Thomas Jr., pleaded guilty to secretly stealing more than $350,000 in city funds intended for youth sports programs and filing a false tax return.

It's amazing that Sen. John Edwardshad the audacity to divert campaign funds for personal use. It's also unfathomable that he basically turned his back of his supportive wife, who was suffering from terminal cancer. Even more mind-boggling is that Senator Edwards took some of that campaign money to cover up his relationship with his mistress, who bore his illegitimate child. He somehow thought he could wriggle through this morass of missteps and become President of the United States.

Is The Sun's news department or its editorial staff aware that a former Democratic presidential candidate and vice presidential nominee, John Edwards, is being tried in criminal court in Greensboro, North Carolina for using campaign funds he raised to pay off the woman he was having an affair with and who bore his child? You must not, because The Sun has carried few (brief) stories and no editorials about it. Look it up. It's true. Did you just miss it? J. Shawn Alcarese, Towson

Former Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's personal political accounts were billed at least $188,000 by Washington law firms during his first year as chairman of the Republican National Committee, according to state and federal disclosure reports. Steele used state campaign funds to pay the law firms, but the specific purpose for most of the expenditures wasn't disclosed, in apparent violation of Maryland reporting guidelines. Some of the costs appear to involve activity that predated his tenure as Republican national chairman.

The state prosecutor has been asked to investigate whether a powerful Maryland lawmaker improperly used his campaign account for personal purchases and other expenses unrelated to his candidacy. The Maryland Board of Elections requested an investigation of Sen. Ulysses Currie, a Prince George's County Democrat who chairs the Budget and Taxation Committee. The elections board is not satisfied with the campaign's explanation for $53,772 in expenditures, including $41,555.27 for legal fees first reported by The Baltimore Sun. Other expenditures that raised questions include: $118 for an eye examination, $133.94 to a company that sells toy guns and remote-control tanks, $31 for auto body repair, $29.99 for online games, $21.59 for a cell phone accessory and $12 for a golf course membership fee. The payments piqued the board's interest because, by law, campaign funds can be used only to promote the "success or defeat of a candidate," according to Jared DeMarinis, director of the elections board.

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. used $168,000 of leftover campaign funds to pay for defense attorneys for Paul Schurick, his longtime aide who was convicted on charges of electoral fraud rising out of Ehrlich's failed run against Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2010. The payments were outlined in a campaign finance report filed last week by the Bob Ehrlich for Maryland Committee, which remains in operation. Ehrlich has said he intends to stay out of Maryland electoral politics. The money paid to four law firms that took part in Schurick's defense made up the bulk of. the committee's spending last year.

The $7,000 in campaign funds given to Gov. Martin O'Malley by a tax evader and former political appointee was sent today to Farmers and Hunters Helping the Hungry, said Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for the governor. The tainted political donation was given by Richard Stewart, a Prince George's County businessman who pleaded guilty last month to failing to pay nearly $4 million in social security and payroll taxes for his employees. Stewart also was one of O'Malley's appointees to the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Committee and on the board of the Stadium Authority.    Maryland's Republican Party noted between 2003 and 2008, the period in which Stewart was not paying taxes, the businessman donated nearly $75,000 to Democratic elected officials and called on the funds to be returned.