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Christine O’Donnell Abruptly Cancels Fox Appearance After CREW Says It Will File Complaint Charging She Embezzled Donations
On CNN Friday night, CREW, the nonpartisan Washington ethics watchdog group, announced it will file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission on Monday charging that Delaware’s new Republican U.S. Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell lied on forms she filed when she launched her candidacy and misappropriated $20,000 in campaign funds from two prior failed runs for the Senate.
O’Donnell became the right wing’s latest overnight celebrity when she defeated Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware’s Republican primary on Sept. 14. She once claimed to be so honest that, had she been living in Europe during World War II, she would have informed Nazis had she known where Jewish families were hiding to avoid being killed in concentration camps.
The funds in question were donated to her two previous Senate campaigns, first in 2006, when she came in third out of three in the Republican primary, and then in 2008, when she won the GOP nomination but was soundly defeated by Sen. Joe Biden in the general election.
On AC360 Friday night, CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan
told Anderson Cooper that witnesses had come forward who had firsthand knowledge that O’Donnell had illegally put donated funds to personal use in 2009 and early 2010 when she was not an active candidate for any office:
“It turns out Ms. O’Donnell has treated her campaign funds like they are her very own personal piggy bank. She’s used that money to pay for things like her rent, for gas, meals and even a bowling outing. And that’s just flat-out illegal,” said [Sloan]…
“For example, in 2009, Ms. O’Donnell wasn’t a candidate for anything, yet she had numerous campaign expenses, things like travel and gas, and yet she had no actual campaign,” Sloan said.
Earlier on Friday, CREW had issued a
news alert in which the group added O’Donnell to its list of 2010’s most crooked candidates:
“Ms. O’Donnell has had no discernable job for several years, and instead has lived the life of a professional candidate, using the generosity of her campaign donors for her support,” said [Sloan]. “That may just be freeloading to most people, but it’s embezzlement for a federal candidate.”
Ms. O’Donnell has demonstrated a disturbing pattern of fraud, lies and fiscal irresponsibility. On her campaign website she claimed to have graduated from a university years before she actually received her diploma — a mere two weeks ago. The IRS slapped liens against her to the tune of over $11,000, and records show that she has been essentially unemployed. Rather, she has lived in her campaign office and makes a profit by renting out rooms – in clear violation of campaign finance law. Ms. O’Donnell also lied when claimed she had won two counties in her 2008 Senate race against Senator Biden and when caught, lied again claiming the two had tied. In essences, Ms. O’Donnell has demonstrated a total disregard of ethics and integrity.
CREW is a nonpartisan ethics watchdog group that has recently targeted Democratic Reps. Charlie Rangel of New York, Maxine Waters of Los Angeles, Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois and others, as well as Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. John Ensign of Nevada and Rep. Don Young of Alaska.
On CNN Friday night, Sloan said CREW would be filing the embezzlement and other complaints against O’Donnell on Monday, Sept. 20.
