The hits keep coming for freshman GOP Rep. Steve Watkins: On Friday, Politico reported that the FEC was investigating his father, Steve Watkins Sr., for allegedly making so-called “straw” donations to his son’s 2018 campaign for Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District.
The elder Watkins donated hundreds of thousands of his own money to finance a super PAC that ran ads in last cycle’s GOP primary, something distressingly common in American elections but nevertheless legal. What federal law does still prohibit, though, is donors from contributing more than the federal maximum to individual campaigns, which last cycle was $2,700 each for the primary and general election. The elder Watkins confirmed to Politico that he was being probed for trying to get around this limit by giving tens of thousands of dollars to several people, including his daughters, who then contributed the cash to his son’s congressional campaign.
This type of arrangement is illegal, but Watkins insisted to Politico, “I thought you could just give money to them and they could do with it what they wanted.” He also said that he’d reported his violations to the FEC himself once he learned that his supposed interpretation was not the case, and he claimed that his son’s campaign had refunded the money. A spokesperson for the younger Watkins said that neither the congressman “nor his campaign committee are under FEC investigation.”
Rep. Watkins is, however, currently being investigated by local authorities in a different matter. Watkins gave as his address on his voter registration form the location of a UPS store in Topeka and then proceeded to cast a ballot in November of last year as though he lived there—a move that could expose him to felony voter fraud charges. Watkins’ team insisted in December that it was all just an "inadvertent" error, and the congressman soon filled out paperwork listing his address as a Topeka apartment complex. Further muddying the waters, though, Watkins didn’t actually include an apartment number in his paperwork, which is a problem since the complex is split between two different state Senate districts.
The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office is still looking into the matter of Watkins and the UPS store. A spokesperson for District Attorney Mike Kagay said Friday that the sheriff’s department has finished the first part of its probe but has some follow-up questions for Watkins, at which point Kagay says he’ll decide whether to pursue charges.
Watkins had, in fact, lived most of his adult life in Alaska and Massachusetts, only moving to Kansas shortly before he kicked off his congressional campaign. But Watkins didn’t move straight into the UPS store: Politico instead reported Friday that Watkins lived with five of his staffers in Kansas during his 2018 congressional campaign, an environment that one source described as “frat-like.”
Politico describes one reality show-style housing conflict where Watkins believed that one of his staffers/roommates had stolen some of his pills—supposedly “Viagra” imported from Asia. The future congressman then compelled another staffer to confront the alleged pill thief about the supposed larceny. We don’t know what was said, but two unnamed sources say that the whole thing was “a big misunderstanding.” Apparently, the great Viagra caper is the only thing Watkins isn’t under investigation for. Yet.
Watkins has been facing a serious challenge in the August primary from state Treasurer Jake LaTurner, while Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla is running for this seat as a Democrat.
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