“Steve Stockman” and “ethical issues” go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Steve Stockman doing his best Joe Cocker impersonation
For a congressman who has overseen four campaign committees in two decades, Rep. Steve Stockman is having a hard time dissolving his troubled congressional campaign.
Now a lame duck, the Clear Lake Republican first tried on April 16 to terminate Friends of Congressman Steve Stockman, the committee he used before challenging Sen. John Cornyn in the recent Republican Senate primary. But the Federal Election Commission refused to allow the termination, sending two letters last week to the Stockman campaign.
The first threatened legal action. At issue were contributions the campaign had received in the last quarter of 2013 and earmarked for expenses related to the 2014 general election. But by challenging Cornyn, Stockman relinquished any chance of being on the ballot to represent the 36th Congressional district in November 2014.
“Since the candidate is not seeking office and will not participate in the general election, any contribution received for the general election must be returned to the donors,” the FEC’s letter reads. “Although the Commission may take further legal action, your prompt action to refund these contributions will be taken into consideration.”
Stockman’s campaign apparently owes Rep. Eric Cantor’s PAC $5,000, which he may or may not be able to pay back because his campaign has no money, according to its most recent filings. Except that his most recent filings were riddled with errors and omissions, which is what the second letter is about. Maybe the next time he runs for something, the FEC should just provide a babysitter for his campaign to handle all this complicated stuff for him. He’s clearly not capable of doing it on his own.