Domenici asks to use campaign funds for legal bills

Senator files request to pay lawyers with donations

14 Dec 2007 // Sen. Pete Domenici is seeking to use some of his $1.78 million campaign fund — which he will no longer use for a re-election bid — to pay lawyers to defend himself and some of his staff in a Senate ethics committee probe.

The request filed by the Albuquerque Republican with the Federal Election Commission is the first time he has acknowledged that his staff needs legal representation, too. Aides on Wednesday refused to say who.

But Domenici's longtime chief of staff, Steve Bell, was with Domenici when he called former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in Albuquerque about a federal corruption investigation into a courthouse corruption case involving prominent New Mexico Democrats shortly before the 2006 election. Iglesias was subsequently fired.

The ethics committee has acknowledged at least a preliminary inquiry into whether the phone call violated Senate ethics rules.

In a letter to the FEC, the campaign's counsel, Donald McGahn, asked commissioners to issue an advisory opinion stating that the use of campaign funds to defend Domenici and staff members does not constitute an illegal use of campaign funds for personal use.

In a statement issued by People for Pete, McGahn said, "The FEC and the Senate ethics committee have previously authorized members of Congress to pay legal fees in this manner and we expect the senator's campaign committee to receive approval to do so in this instance.

"As he has stated in the past, out of respect for his colleagues on the Senate ethics committee, Sen. Domenici will not comment on the committee's inquiry until it is officially closed."

A recent example of a congressman who used campaign funds for his legal defense is former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a San Diego Republican convicted of bribery, mail fraud and tax evasion.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the ethics complaint against Domenici, said the FEC should no longer allow candidates to use campaign contributions to pay their defense lawyers.

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said it "makes campaign donors unwitting contributors to a legal defense fund."

Domenici was actively raising funds for his re-election until early October, when he announced he would not run because of a degenerative brain disease.