Skip to content
Politics
Link copied to clipboard

Fattah uses taxpayer funds to pitch his case

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, facing federal trial on racketeering charges, has found himself a bit strapped for funds for his reelection campaign.

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was indicted in July on charges of racketeering, bank fraud, bribery, and money laundering.
U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was indicted in July on charges of racketeering, bank fraud, bribery, and money laundering.Read moreDAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, facing federal trial on racketeering charges, has found himself a bit strapped for funds for his reelection campaign.

But that does not mean the residents of the Second Congressional District are not hearing from the 11-term Democrat.

Fattah has radio commercials airing on WDAS-FM and WURD-AM, advertising a congressional art contest and a meeting about applying to military academies.

A glossy mailer noting his accomplishments over more than two decades in the House arrived in the mail last month.

Constituents who skipped Fattah's "telephone town hall" on Jan. 26 later received a robo-call saying he was sorry to have missed them.

Fattah's reelection campaign is not covering the costs of those efforts.

You are.

Fattah is claiming his franking privileges as a legislator to use taxpayer funds to pay for what he describes as an effort to tell his constituents what he is up to in Washington.

He refuses to say how much he is spending until members of the House report their quarterly expenses.

The report for the first quarter of 2016, from Jan. 1 to March 31, will be made public May 27, one month and one day after the April 26 primary election.

Allyson Freeman, Fattah's communications director, responding to an Inquirer request for information last week, said he would provide it when the quarter ends March 31. "This reporting ensures both accountability and transparency to the congressman's constituents," Freeman said in an email. "The office is more than happy to provide the Inquirer and its readership the information you are requesting when the quarter closes."

Fattah's trial is scheduled to start May 2.

He was indicted in July on charges of racketeering, bank fraud, bribery, and money laundering for what prosecutors call an illegal $1 million loan and repayment for his 2007 campaign for mayor.

Fattah's most recent campaign-finance report, filed two weeks ago, showed he had just $7,673 in the bank as of Dec. 31 and more than five times that amount in legal debts.

Fattah last month told a federal judge his focus was on raising money for his campaign, not raising his legal debts, after his lawyers asked to withdraw from his case because they were not being paid. The judge ordered the lawyers to keep working.

Fattah faces four primary challengers: State Reps. Dwight Evans and Brian Sims, ward leader Dan Muroff, and Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian Gordon. They all reported having more money than Fattah.

Fattah confirms that he has been "ramping up" his federal spending to communicate with his constituents.

But Fattah said that was not due to problems raising money for his campaign.

Instead, he blames the local media.

"I have found frequently an inability to get any of my work covered in the local media," Fattah said. "I must make sure my constituents know about my work by utilizing the franking privilege."

Franking dates to 1775 and the Continental Congress. It was a way for members of Congress to send mail to constituents without paying postage and has been expanded to include electronic communications.

Congress enforces a 90-day blackout rule on use of the frank before an election. The blackout started Jan. 27 for the April primary.

Fattah's radio ads are permitted under an exception in that rule that allows advertising about the art contest and applications to military academies.

Fattah said he had advertised those matters before but never on radio. He added that spending money on new media, including newsletters emailed to district residents and a congressional app for phones, shows he is "at the forefront" in communicating with constituents.

"That's why I'm in my 11th term in Congress," he said. "I work hard to effectively represent my district."

David Thornburgh, president of the Committee of Seventy, a good-government group, said Fattah's spending raised questions about whether he was thinking more about the primary than just informing his constituents.

"It just feels like it comes too close to the line," he said. "There's that old expression: Money is the mother's milk of politics. The point is, use your money, not ours."

Fattah submitted the radio ads to the House's Franking Commission last month and received a waiver for the blackout.

He was told a third ad, which explains how his constituents can receive services at remote locations through his "mobile office," was ineligible for the waiver.

The Federal Communications Commission requires television and radio stations to make available a public file that shows campaign spending for political ads. No disclosure is required for Fattah's current ads because they are not deemed political.

WDAS-FM would not say how much Fattah spent to air the ads. Two media buyers in Philadelphia, who spoke to The Inquirer in exchange for anonymity, determined the cost was $20,016 from Feb. 3 to April 7 after checking with the radio station.

WURD-AM also declined to say how much Fattah spent to air the ads. The media buyers were unable to determine the cost at that station.

WDAS and WURD have predominantly African American audiences.

The Second District covers parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County. It is the only congressional district in Pennsylvania where the majority of residents - 58 percent - are African American.

Fattah, like his legislative colleagues, is allotted an annual member representative allowance. His 2015 budget of $1.26 million is used to pay for staff salaries and expenses, office rent and utilities, travel and meals, telecommunications, and other costs.

It also covers his franked communications.

Fattah said he had used the account over the years to spend less than other members of Congress.

"In comparison to my colleagues, if measured against them, I'm a complete innocent," he said.

Innocent or not, Fattah has paid close attention to the rules on spending.

The glossy mailer to constituents, which pitched Fattah as "Your voice in Washington," included a picture of a handwritten note that said, "Since first stepping foot in Congress, I have been a tireless advocate for the hardworking families throughout our district." It arrived in mailboxes in the week before the blackout started.

Fattah's telephone town hall and the robo-call that followed happened on Jan. 26, the last day before the blackout.

Fattah repeatedly stressed last week that the House's Franking Commission approved it all.

"I see it as necessary to try to communicate some of the work that I'm doing," he said.

brennac@phillynews.com

215-854-5973@ByChrisBrennan