If we were thinking that the FEC wasn't on top of its game, we were right. According to a story deep inside the folds of the Washington Post, there's a small scandal going on that's eaten away at the fiscal resources of the agency, and has caused some folks to be marched out of the building.
The core of the issue is that an employee, Cheryl Kelly, accused her supervisor James Pehrkon of sexual harassment. Pehrkon offered to pay a $100,000 cash settlement from surplus agency funds. When that plan was nixed he offered to pay $10,000 of Kelly's legal expenses from surplus. With a end run around the actual Commission, Kelly's attorneys were paid $10,000 for "consulting." Sources below.
The
Washington Post
article summed things up:
"Critics have long argued that the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with making sure campaign finance laws are followed, has been, if not completely spineless and useless, perhaps not as aggressive as it could be.
Well, in fairness, sometimes people can get distracted -- especially when the FBI is crawling all over the place with search warrants for the offices and computers of senior officials, including 18-year veteran and then-staff director James A. Pehrkon."
For additional information: "FBI Searches FEC Offices" for PDF scans of the Application for a search warrant of the FEC offices. "FEC seeks highly qualified personnel" for a PDF scan of the amended complaint by Cheryl Kelly. letterKelly asserts that she was the subject of sexual harassment, that she was denied promotion when she wouldn't comply with sexual favors, and that even though she was repeatedly told she was a witness and not a target of the investigation, she was ejected from the building in February 2006. The letter is worth the PDF hassle to read.
There are hints that the whole mess has cost the FEC major money, enough such that workshops for filers had to be cancelled, and other "adjustments" may have to be made in FEC operations. One thing does seem to be clear, this is not an agency with a singular focus on its primary mission.