Senator Grahams' fiscal problems

This is not the first time an employee or aide to an elected official has stuck their hand in the bosses cookie jar to enrich their own lives. But as a voter of South Carolina there are a few questions I feel the need to ask. I will lay them out below.

The newspaper article in our local paper The State shows how she was fired in June, on the 19th to be exact, so why is it just now making it into the news, and why has Senator Graham just now sent out a letter to explain this to his contributors?

Was he embarassed to admit, that his own book keeping methods were less than ethical, or his oversight on campaign expenditures were not up to the standards required by law?

SLED and federal election officials are investigating the alleged embezzlement of $215,000 from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s campaign funds.

The investigations come after Graham fired one of his most trusted and longest-serving aides, who is named in documents filed with the Federal Elections Commission. The documents detail dozens of alleged “unauthorized payments” made to the woman.

Jennifer Adams, 49, was removed from her post as a campaign bookkeeper in November, and “she was fired from the Senate office in June 2007,” said Kevin Bishop, Graham’s communications director.

Her employment ended June 19, aides said.

Why did it take five months for Senator Graham to make this public knowledge? Was it the release of this letter dated October 15 2007

October 15, 2007
Dear Supporter:
I appreciate the generous financial support you have given to my campaign for the United
States Senate. You have entrusted us to be good stewards of your hard-earned donations,
and I take that responsibility very seriously.
Our campaign recently conducted an intensive internal review of our financial records.
During this review, we uncovered numerous unauthorized disbursements made by a
former employee. While we are still conducting the review, it appears the unauthorized
payments for personal use totaled approximately $215,000 over a period of four years.
Our campaign contacted the Federal Election Commission upon discovering the
suspected misappropriation of funds to make them aware of the situation and to seek
appropriate guidance on how to proceed. Based on their direction, we have begun filing
amended financial reports and turned the matter over to law enforcement for
investigation. We have stressed to the FEC throughout this process that we are
committed to complete and accurate information for the public record.
Finally, the individual in question has been terminated from employment, and we have
implemented strict internal controls governing all financial activities of the campaign to
ensure nothing like this ever happens again. I am hopeful we may be able to recover
some of the funds and am determined to pursue our legal options to the fullest extent
possible.
I am sorry to say that events like this happen far too often in campaigns. Some of my
friends like Senator Elizabeth Dole, Senator Trent Lott, and Representative John Boehner
have experienced similar situations.
As an important and valued member of our team, I wanted to inform you personally of
this matter.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Graham
United States Senator

Paid for by Lindsey Graham for Senate

Did this just come out in the newspaper due to the "letter" to donors, or has the State known about this and just held the news until the letter forced the publishing of the news article.

If he can not be open and honest about malfeasance in his own office by his own employees and trusted aides, how am I supposed to trust this Senator to be open and honest about matters that are vital to me as his constituent? Is he also taking the same personal care of business for the residents of South Carolina and the nation when he conducts the "people's business"?

I would like to hear more about how the Senator plans to correct "this mistake" and the sloppy way it has been handled for the past five months.

How about it Senator, don't we deserve to know the "truth" or as one of South Carolina's most famous citizens calls it the "Truthiness". It is something voters like to hear, the truth.

cross posted on Daily Kos

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