Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 09:03:41 PM EDT
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When Senator Bryant requested to use his campaign fund to pay for his criminal defense, ELEC said no. That decision was backed up by a state appeals court and ELEC made the rule change official yesterday: The rule enacted yesterday clarifies the original commission opinion, saying that legal fees and other expenses for a candidate or officeholder's criminal defense are not "ordinary and necessary" duties. The commission will notify the state Supreme Court -- which is considering Bryant's appeal -- of the changes, said executive director Frederick Herrmann.
But the new rule does not apply retroactively, Herrmann said. Well it shouldn't be a part of the ordinary and necessary duties, but with all the recent stories I'm sure plenty of people are wondering how rare an occurrence this situation really is. I'm glad ELEC made the clarification and rules change so that this won't be an issue going forward. If people choose to profit from the public trust, they shouldn't be able to benefit from the financial support given to put them in the position when questions about their actions are raised. They can use the profits they made to defend themselves. |
| Jason Springer :: ELEC officially bans use of campaign funds for legal defense |
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