Posted in HCG...no need to argue about it in GDP

[Sancho]

http://www.politicade.com/confirmed-bernie-sanders-illegally-used-campaign-funds-for-overnight-trip-to-italy/

Confirmed: Bernie Sanders Illegally Used Campaign Funds For Overnight Trip To Italy

Presidential Campaign Finance Reports, which include receipts and disbursements for the month of April, have been in ’processing’ status since they were submitted to the FEC on 5/20. Yesterday, the FEC made the detailed campaign finance reports available to the public.

We can now confirm that Bernie Sanders illegally spent over a half million dollars in campaign funds on private air travel and luxury hotels for his non-campaign related trip to Italy. To learn why this is an illegal use of campaign finances, see our previous article on this topic:

http://www.politicade.com/did-bernie-sanders-illegally-use-campaign-funds-to-take-family-to-italy/

Bernie Sanders has been under Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigation for months due to numerous campaign finance violations. In the most recent FEC letter to the Sanders Campaign dated 3/30, Sanders is warned of an audit if his campaign does not provide requested details by the deadline of 5/4. (FEC letters: 2/11, 2/25, 3/30)

Campaign Finance Laws clearly state that candidates are prohibited from using campaign funds to finance non-campaign related trips or vacations. Campaign Finance loopholes were closed in recent decades due to rampant abuse. Politicians were using leftover campaign funds to purchase luxurious personal items like cars, designer clothing, Super Bowl tickets, real estate, and vacations. There have been ongoing reports of campaign funds being used to provide lucrative salaries to family members who “worked” on campaigns.

In 1979, Congress barred the use of campaign funds for personal use, but because ‘personal use’ was not clearly defined, politicians continued to use campaign funds for personal items. In 1995, the FEC added campaign finance regulations that defined personal use as follows: “…any use of funds in a campaign account of a present or former candidate to fulfill a commitment, obligation or expense of any person that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s campaign or responsibilities as a Federal officeholder.”