SALON

Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 1:35 PM UTC

Bachmann faces fresh ethics questions

Investigators are reportedly looking into whether she used campaign staffers to help promote her book

By

Topics: Michele Bachmann, Book tours, ethics, Ethics Investigation, Minnesota,

Bachmann faces fresh ethics questionsFormer presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. speaks in Washington. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Office of Congressional Ethics investigation into Rep. Michele Bachmann has reportedly widened to include questions about the use of staff to promote her book tour, according to sources who spoke with the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Investigators reportedly began their work by looking into payments to staff from her presidential campaign, but the new questions involve a 2011 tour to promote her memoir, Core of Conviction. Two former staff members told the Star Tribune that they had been asked about whether they worked to promote the book while on the payroll of Bachmann’s presidential campaign, something that would potentially violate federal ethics rules.

Bachmann’s campaign lawyer, William McGinley, denied any wrongdoing and said the book’s publisher paid for the tour and promotional expenses. “Records show that the campaign was very careful to ensure that protocols were in place to keep the book tour and presidential campaign completely separate and distinct,” he said. “Any fair and objective review of the record will conclude that Congresswoman Bachmann and the campaign followed the FEC [Federal Election Commission] advisory opinions and acted appropriately.”

Schedules and internal emails from the tour obtained by the Star Tribune show that some top campaign staffers accompanied Bachmann during the tour, and suggested using the campaign’s Iowa email list to boost attendance at book tour events.

Bachmann’s campaign allegedly faces at least two other ethics probes, one relating to the payment of staffers and the other to an email list from an outside organization that was allegedly stolen from a campaign volunteer. Still, the ethics rules around book tours are not crystal clear, as the FEC allowed former Sen. Scott Brown to use campaign funds to buy copies of his own book.

Alex Seitz-Wald

Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Would we give up burgers to stop climate change? New study suggests if we reduce our intake of animal products by 25%, we can halt climate change
602 points603 points | 239 comments
vote
Facebook has been used to find ex-lovers, childhood BFFs or the one who got away. He used it to find the guy who, without his consent, made him his drug mule.
237 points238 points | 22 comments
vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
143 points144 points | 55 comments
vote
Poll: 3 in 10 voters say “armed revolution might be necessary” - 29% say they believe they'll have to act "in order to protect our liberties" in the next few years
46 points47 points | 16 comments
vote
Capitalism, not feminism, killed home cooking–and fixing our broken food system is gonna take a lot more than some privileged women embracing “new domesticity”
35 points36 points | 19 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations