Fossella admits Ward embezzlement to FEC

I stopped following Vito's FEC reports. Maybe I shouldn't have so quickly written off Fossella's ability to provide new stories.

Liz reports that in Fossella's required FEC filing replying to an inquiry why his financial numbers were not matching up he claims to now be the victim of embezzlement;

The accuracy of this report is in question due to alleged embezzlement of funds. The Committee is in the process
of reconciling its records and will file an amended report as soon as possible.

Nothing new here, just more bad PR for Vito.

48 hour notice updates

Here are the contribution updates via 48 hour notice filings. These contributions have come in after the October 15 pre-general filing I recently updated;

McMahon (D): $105,347.87
Straniere (R): $15,600

Pre-General fundraising reports, Straniere struggling still

The last FEC report we will see before the election is the pre-general reports covering the period of October 1-15. Here are the numbers raised;

McMahon: $113,000
Straniere: $37,000

With the numbers Bob from Manhattan has raised his cash on hand numbers actually increased from $1,900 to $10,533. Simply put these are still horrible numbers for Bob. I don't even know how this guy pays rent for his offices let alone how he pays for campaign costs.

h/t to Swing State Project

update: Cash on hand numbers are updated in the right column.
update2: Morano (I) seems to have not filed his numbers yet and Cochrane (C) seems to not be filing any FEC reports, not sure what that is about.

Fossella vs. FEC rules

On July 17 we took a look at Fossella's FEC reports and the curious trend that his campaign continued to accept and potentially solicit donations after his arrest and even after his declaration that he wasn't running for re-election. While the focus of that post was the excessive loyalty of his donors who continued to give after his arrest and admitted adultery there seems to be a new problem for Fossella, namely FEC rules. There are two rules he has run afoul of and the FEC is now demanding action.

1. Primary election contributions received after May 20th, when Fossella declared he was no longer a candidate, must be refunded
2. Since Fossella is not running for re-election any money received for the general election must be refunded

There are a few instances where the money can be kept but for the most part it appears Fossella will have to refund the majority of this money. So what? Well we know Fossella has been sitting on about $270,000. Fossella had the option of donating to various candidates, including his endangered Republican House and Senate members running for re-election as well as donating large (unlimited I believe) sums back to the NRCC for them to use as they need. Also he could sit on it for a future run for federal office again should he be so daring. Instead Fossella has sulked and did nothing with the money and so now large portions of that war chest will be refunded.

If I did my math right it looks like the FEC is noting around $160,000 is in question.

McMahon fundraising midnight deadline

Today is the last day of the third quarter and a major deadline for fundraising. If you are a McMahon donor or have been thinking about getting behind his campaign, donating today before midnight is the most important time to show your support. Because this will be the last FEC quarter update before the election it is crucial to once again vastly outpace Straniere in cash raised and send a message to the NRCC to Republican supporters to stay away, its a lost cause. Any amount helps;

Donate to Mike McMahon by Midnight!

Pre-primary FEC filings

Here is where we stand with pre-primary filings (July 1 - August 20). Raised is money raised over that six week period, spent is money spent in that time period, CoH is cash on hand they still have and total raised is how much they have raised during the entire cycle;

McMahon (D)
raised - $218,000
spent - $276,000
CoH - $413,000
total raised - $717,000

Harrison (D)
raised - $17,000
spent - $35,000
CoH - $45,000
total raised - $201,000

Straniere (R)
raised - $15,000
spent - $3,000
CoH - $12,000
raised total - $15,000

Wyne (R)
raised - $9,000
spent - $98,000
CoH - $203,000
raised total - $9,000

* McMahon is running away with his fundraising numbers, outraising Harrison, Straniere and Wyne combined many times over.
* The Democratic candidates both outraised each Republican candidate
* Straniere who is the odds on favorite to win his primary is sitting on only $12,000, and he will spend much of that between now and September 9 leaving him almost completely broke to go into the general election should he win.
* Wyne loaned himself $290,000


h/t to Swing State Project

update: cash on hand numbers have been updated in the right column

Even more Chris Ward and Vito Fossella

This time Tom actually picks up the story, a little late to the game, but bad press for Fossella regardless;

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) has severed ties with his campaign treasurer, whom the National Republican Congressional Committee suspects of fraud.

snip

A Republican source told the Advance that the irregularities had to do with the NRCC itself, as opposed to individual lawmakers' accounts, PACs or fund-raising committees handled by Ward.

Chris Ward has been Fossella's campaign treasurer since at least July, 2006 which coincides with the end of his role as the NRCC's treasurer. Thus far no impropriety has been connected with Ward and any of his roles as treasurer for individual campaigns, but it does raise plenty of suspicions. Donors to the NRCC must be concerned and so must big donors to campaigns such as Fossella's with questions about where their money possibly went.

That said I must ask, Tom where have you been? Elizabeth Benjamin at the Daily News broke the Chris Ward and Vito Fossella connection back on February 1, twenty-two days before any coverage in the Advance.

Recchia's 4Q Filing

The first good sign of Domenic Recchia's viability in this race came with his FEC filing.

4Q 2007
Net Q: $220,770
Net: $220,770
CoH: $206,451
Debt: $0

• Recchia trails Rep. Vito Fossella by about $70,000 $43,000 or $16,000 when you consider Fossella's debt.
• Recchia's disbursements/expenditure rate is well below Fossella's, $90,000 less

update: I have added Recchia to the sunlight tool in the right column. Note that those totals are total contributions not cash on hand. The numbers are a lot closer than it looks because Fossella has a small spending problem. He can't be trusted with his own money, should he be trusted with yours?

Fossella's 4Q FEC filing

4Q 2007
Net Q: $304,453
Net: $700,967
CoH: $250,501
Debt: $28,000

• $79,250 of Rep. Vito Fossella's CoH is restricted to the General Election.
• Fossella paid off $55,000 worth of debt
• Fossella spent $104,237, the highest expenditure rate of a non election year 4Q

Vito Fossella is out of Money

I have covered Rep. Vito Fossella's financial hardships thus far in his campaign in several posts;

Fossella in Financial Trouble and Denial
Fossella in Financial Trouble and Denial, part II
Fossella in Financial Trouble and Denial, part III

Now is the summation of those diaries leading up to his 4Q FEC filings which looks like it will be out Monday or Tuesday. Vito Fossella was broke at the end of 3Q 2007. Broke.

The Congressman's filings show $50,286 Cash on Hand but further analysis of these numbers show that $50,050 are restricted to General Election spending meaning he is unable to touch that money until after the Primary Election in September 2008. Fossella is simultaneously raising money for his Primary Election and his General Election. The General Election money though can't be touched no matter what financial hardships might fall on him.

At the end of September, the last month we have financial records for, Rep. Vito Fossella had a total of $236. There are no zeros missing from that. Two hundred and thirty-six dollars. Considering he has to pay utilities, rent and salaries to name several large expenditures he would need to put all his initial fund raising of 4Q immediately to bills. Not the way you want to run a re-election campaign.

Here is Vito Fossella's $50,050 restricted to his General Election;
Gina Addeo, $2,300 (4/30/07)

Geradri Campitiello, $2,300 (07/31/07)

John Celiberti, Jr., $2,300 (04/30/07)

Charles DeMarco, $2,100 (03/19/07)

Mario DiBiase, $1,000 (03/19/07)

Dennis Hansen, $2,300 (06/21/07)

Robert Golden, $1,650 (03/19/07)

Andrew Leider, $2,300 (02/23/07)

Raymond Masucci, $2,300 (06/30/07)

Michael Miglino, $2,300 (06/14/07)

Clare Miley, $2,300 (04/30/07)

Maureen Moore, $2,100 (03/19/07)

Alice Noce, $200 (02/13/07)

Lisa Noce, $200 (02/13/07)

Anthony Santo, $2,300 (03/20/07)

Susan Scimore, $2,300 (06/14/07)

Mufeed Siad, $2,300 (06/29/07)

Michael Sulivan, $2,300 (04/30/07)

Anthony Tranchina, $2,300 (03/03/07)

George Wade, $2,300 (03/19/07)

Stuart Waldman, $2,300 (03/30/07)

Harold Weinberg, $700 (03/30/07)

Edward Welsh, $700 (06/04/07)

Jamshad Wyne, $2,300 (06/30/07)

Joseph Zahriyeh, $2,300 (06/29/07)

Fossella in Financial Trouble and Denial, part II

In last night's post I was a little too hasteful in my thinking that FEC reports would be available later this week. That is not the case. They will be available closer to January 15th. But there is plenty of analysis to keep you occupied;

Yesterday's post quoted Georgea Kaye, Fossella's spokesperson as saying the committee raised between $1.2 and 1.8 million each election cycle. Either Rep. Fossella and his staffers are ignorant of their own past or they are just putting out lies hoping no one calls them on it. Totals for his past election cycles;

2000 - $1.285 million
2002 - $758k
2004 - $1.124 m
2006 - $1.488 m

So two of his campaign cycles amassed between $1.2 and 1.8 million. Although they never topped $1.5 million so that $1.8 million figure is rather strange. Of course two of the other campaigns did not even total $1.2 million. Maybe they round up? A lot.

Next it seems ambitious to say that based off of past fund raising production that this year they again will raise at least $1.2 million. With $383,000 in net contributions Rep. Fossella would need to bring in $204,000 in each quarter just to reach $1.2 million for the entire cycle. This is how he has done thus far this cycle per quarter:

4Q 2006 - $0
1Q 2007 - $133,000
2Q 2007 - $151,000
3Q 2007 - $99,000

To wrap this up unless Rep. Fossella pulls in over $200,000 in contributions in his 4Q FEC filing he is failing to meet his own minimum expectations. This is something he has not been able to do once during this election cycle. This will be a telling sign of how much trouble his campaign might be in.

More answers coming from the FEC on Recchia's campaign

The FEC seems as though it will be our only friend in figuring out Recchia's campaign and what it is capable of. November 8 (or possibly sooner) will be a day to circle on the calendar.

According to the FEC's Candidate Registration page "An individual becomes a candidate for federal office (and thus triggers registration and reporting obligations under the Act) when his or her campaign exceeds $5,000 in either contributions or expenditures." Back on October 24, Domenic Recchia hosted his first fund raiser. The suggested contribution amounts were $100, $250, $500 and $1,000. It is likely that Recchia will trigger that $5,000 campaign contribution limit making him an official candidate.

"Within 15 days after an individual becomes a candidate, he or she must designate a principal campaign committee as the principal committee to receive contributions and make expenditures on the candidate’s behalf. This designation must be made in writing by filing a Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2 [PDF]) or by filing a letter with the same information (i.e., the individual’s name and address, the district and/or state in which the federal office is sought, and the name and address of his or her principal campaign committee)." [via FEC]

Fifteen days would take us to November 8, however we may not have to wait that long. We see that Recchia already has a principal campaign committee Recchia for Congress. Further;

"Within 10 days after it has been designated by the candidate, the principal campaign committee must file a Statement of Organization (FEC Form 1 [PDF]) with the FEC or, in the case of Senate candidates, with the Secretary of the Senate. The Statement must identify the committee’s treasurer, bank depositories, any other committees authorized by the same candidate 4 and other pertinent information, described below. 11 CFR 102.1(a) and 102.2(a).' [via FEC]

Those 10 days would take us to November 18 at the latest, but we know Recchia for Congress already has a declared treasurer so it would lead one to believe the rest of those requirements have also probably been reported. So it looks as though announced or not Domenic Recchia is now an official candidate for Congress. Up next is any indication of his fund raising prowess.

Recchia for Congress

The FEC is now showing a Recchia for Congress Campaign Committee. There are few details except a campaign treasurer, Theodore Pavlounis. A quick Google search shows that Mr. Pavlounis seems to be in legal services and his company's address is the same listed as the campaign committee's address, nothing excited there.

3Q Analysis

Stephen Harrison (D)
• Only 3 donors are maxed out for the primary which leaves lot's of potentially untapped funds
• He has a modest showing on ActBlue, 23 donors yet only Mole333 at DailyGotham is really pushing this so I am curious where those donors came from


Vito Fossella (R)
• $14,100 from my count of his contributions are for the General Election, meaning of his $50k Cash on Hand, only $36k of that is usable before the September 2008 primary, putting him that much further in the hole. After seeing that I went back to his 2Q numbers and he has $36k from that filing that is General Election only, so he is carrying $50k in funds that he can't use before the primary, equal to his current Cash on Hand. (I have to double check some of the finer details of this I am no expert in FEC laws)
• He continues to get Union support, although minimal (Carpenters, Operating Engineers, Painters IUPAT, Laborers)
• The only notable local party elected to contribution this quarter was former Assembly Candidate Anthony Xanthakis, updated; he was only a candidate
• Wal-Mart once again is contributing to Fossella's campaign (this was the same donation from 2Q)

Harrison's 3Q numbers

Stephen Harrison's FEC filings are up as well, although his campaign was great about letting us know his numbers before the Monday filing deadline.

Net Contributions: $37,618
Net Disbursements: $6,849
Cash on Hand: $37,267
Debt: $1,595

more analysis on Harrison and Fossella's numbers later...

Vito Fossella's Q3 numbers

Monday was the filing deadline for congressional candidates for their third quarter (July-Sept 2007) finances. Here are Fossella's Q3 numbers (caution links to a PDF):

Net Contributions: $98,735
Net Expenditures: $152,910
Cash on Hand: $50,286
DEBT: $73,582

For comparison here are his Q2 numbers;

Net Contributions: 151,275.00
Net Expenditures: 124,783.82
Cash on Hand: 106,751.87
DEBT: 117,771.01

And Q1 2007

Net Contributions: 133,150.00
Net Expenditures: 62,167.12
Cash on Hand: 82,885.69
DEBT: 173,750.46

In all, his third quarter numbers show is lowest fund raising numbers of 2007, $50k less than Q2, a rather sizable drop off. He for the first time in 2007 has spent well more than he brought in, truly showing his 'fiscal conservatism' and once again increasing his net expenditures. And again he ends the quarter with more debt than cash on hand. It is going to take him well into the Q2 of 2008 just to break even and pay off all the debt he has carried while Stephen Harrison and Domenic Recchia have positive net cash flows and both are already ahead in the money game, even with Recchia raising nothing to date for this race.