Politics

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Fallon Introduces Bill Preventing Campaign Funds From Going To Candidate’s Immediate Family

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Republican Texas Rep. Pat Fallon introduced legislation Tuesday that would prevent campaign funds from going to a candidate’s immediate family and holding the candidate directly responsible for knowingly violating the provision.

The Daily Caller first obtained the bill, which is titled the Family Integrity to Reform Elections (FIRE) Act. The Caller previously reported on a number of lawmakers who have used campaign funds to pay their immediate family.

“The Family Integrity to Reform Elections (FIRE) Act is a critical step to reducing nepotistic practices in American campaigns. Allowing direct family members to be on the take of campaigns must come to an end. For example, Maxine Waters, the worst perpetrator, has given her daughter over $1.1 million in campaign funds. This is utterly egregious, and I will not stand by as the integrity of our elections is further diminished,” Fallon told the Daily Caller.

Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters paid her daughter over $15,000 with campaign funds, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) numbers reviewed by the Daily Caller in July.

The FEC records show Waters is still paying her daughter Karen Waters a total of $16,500 during Q2 from April 1 through June 30. The records became available July 15. The purpose of the payments on the FEC records says “Slate Mailer Management Fee.”

Waters has been paying her daughter with campaign funds for years. In 2018, the Daily Caller News Foundation broke the news that Waters was paying her daughter more than $100,000 in campaign funds during that election cycle.

READ THE BILL HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

Democratic Connecticut Rep. Jahana Hayes, who was caught paying her family tens of thousands of dollars since entering Congress after the Daily Caller reviewed FEC records, has continued to pay her children with campaign funds. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Fallon Introduces Legislation To Stop Biden’s ‘Abuse’ Of The Strategic Petroleum Reserve)

During Q2 2022, Hayes paid her son David Crenshaw $1,245.65 from her campaign fund. Since entering Congress, she has paid her son $18,283.08. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Pat Fallon Urges White House To Make Monoclonal Antibodies Available For Purchase)

In February, the Caller first reported that during Q4 2021 Hayes used her campaign fund, called “Friends of Jahana Hayes,” to pay her son $15,118.54 since entering Congress.

The Caller also first reported in October that Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s campaign has paid a small agency that employs his wife hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2020, according to FEC records reviewed by the Caller.

Fallon’s bill was cosponsored by Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson. The legislation will be held by the clerk’s office until House Republicans elect a new Speaker of the House.