$10,000 stolen from Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-Louisiana) campaign committee

quote:

---

Speaker Mike Johnson is celebrating massive cuts to foreign aid programs and public media that he successfully navigated through the House of Representatives.

But Johnson’s own political campaign budget just took a modest hit, too — thanks to a thief, according to new federal records reviewed by OpenSecrets.

The Mike Johnson for Louisiana congressional committee lost $9,995.50 on April 28 when an unidentified person swiped one of the committee’s paper checks, which was “reissued to a fraudulent payee, and processed,” Johnson’s campaign wrote to the Federal Election Commission last week.

---

quote:

---

While losing $10,000 will barely dent Johnson’s overall political finances — his committee reported more than $6.7 million in cash on hand as of June 30 — the theft is the latest in a series of incidents involving fraudsters hitting high-profile politicians and party committees.

Taken together, federal political committees have lost millions of dollars this decade, an OpenSecrets analysis of federal records and media reports indicates.

Thieves have successfully targeted the political campaigns of President Joe Biden, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Virginia Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for president as a Democrat in 2020 and now serves as President Donald Trump’s national security advisor.

The campaign committee of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) lost nearly $700,000 in 2022, prompting an FBI investigation.

In May and June of this year, Moran’s committee reported two small “unauthorized charges” for purchases at a Target store in Overland Park, Kan., that have since been reimbursed, according to FEC records.

Scammers have also hit the Republican National Committee, Wisconsin Republican Party, Oregon Republican Party, anti-Trump super PAC Lincoln Project and the Democratic-supporting Retired Americans PAC.

In addition to Johnson, OpenSecrets has found evidence of more than a dozen federal political committees experiencing a financial crime against them since the November election, including those of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Reps. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.).

Someone used the National Republican Congressional Committee’s credit card for a shopping spree — the damage: $2,425 — at retailers Canada Goose and Fendi.

---

quote:

---

If a political committee discovers misappropriated funds, it “must notify law enforcement” as well as the FEC to properly disclose any reporting errors caused by a theft or unauthorized expenditure of campaign money.

The FEC recommends political committees take several proactive steps to avoid theft, including limiting the number of people authorized to sign checks, “carefully controlling” credit and debit cards and placing dollar restrictions on financial account withdrawals.

---

LINK

I certainly hate thieves and hackers. Those who hack into bank accounts and steal money should have all their fingers chopped off before thrown in GP prison.

That said, if there's a group of victims of these crimes that I'd feel the least sorry for...D.C. politicians and their PACs has got to be up there.