Pennsylvania's Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation oversees the Commonwealth’s electoral process, including campaign finance reports. Trisha Malehorn, Chief of the Campaign Finance Division, informed me yesterday that her office is opening an investigation into campaign finance reports filed by State Rep. Mike "Darth Voter" Schlossberg.
That investigation, which is really an administrative inquiry, is in response to a complaint I filed last week about Darth Voter's 2015 Annual Report. He reported spending $13,500 on himself last year. Specifically, he claimed "reimbursements" for $520.86 on 2/6/15; $372.27 on 3/2/15: $1,867.00 on 3/31/15; $144.98 on 4/2/15; $1,402.05 on 5/5/15: $658.50 on 5/7/15; $23.00 on 5/21/15; $635.40 on 6/1/15; $4,517.80 on 7/2/15 (fundraiser mentioned); $787.88 on 8/29/15; $735.74 on 9/27/15: $94.88 on 9/30/15 (mileage); $606.82 on 10/25/15; $97.75 on 11/3/15 (mileage); $735.00 on 11/28/15; and $396.09 on 12/30/15.
This is contrary to Pennsylvania's Campaign Finance Law, which specifically provides (25 P.S. § 3246 (b)) that each campaign finance report "shall" contain the following information: "Each and every expenditure, the date made, the full name and address of the person to whom made and the purpose for which such expenditure was made."
Elections officials can impose fines, and in rare cases, can even seek a criminal investigation by the Attorney General. But in most instances, the office is primarily interested in seeing that disclosure laws are being followed. My guess is that Darth Voter will be asked to amend his report.
21 comments:
He will skate.
What passes for oversight is a joke.
Bernie doesn't' like him cause he doesn't drink and beat his wife.
Learned from Tony I at the Chamber.
He's unopposed and unaccountable. Part of the PA Democrat culture of corruption, arrogance, and entitlement.
This POS is a rigged politician who must seek out receipts wherever he goes.
He must sit around all day and solicit contributions from any PAC. Does he do any legislative work?
Are there any viable R's or D's to put him out of office?
If a D is taking him on, I do not know. He is being challenged on the R side by Ben Long, but Long is a long shot, a kid with no life experience.
"Ben Long, but Long is a long shot, a kid with no life experience." Agreed (although we would be far better off with Longs inexperience than we are with Schlossberg's experience) and even though Long may do a good job of exposing Schlossberg's ghost voting, abuse of campaign funds and any number of other issues, the Morning Call will agree not to cover any of it and the mind numbed masses of Democrat voters in the 132nd District will still vote straight ticket D. Schlossberg appears to be untouchable at this point. That is unless he becomes part of the FBI investigation from his tenure on City Hall when Council paid a trumped up price for the useless Atiyeh parcels on orders from Fed Ed.
Do the constituents of Allentown deserve such poor judgement by Schlossberg? He seems to be lacking in so many areas including his mental state...
Sclossberg is pathetic, perhaps even a criminal.
The Republicans offer no viable alternative.
The constituents are fucked.
Such is democracy in Allentown.
And all this while that most craven of political creatures, Jenn Mann, continue to slide under the radar.
You can find her holding court at that bastion of opulent mediocrity, the Hamilton.
Perfect.
Here's the biggest message out of New Hampshire last night: The politics of resentment won. It hasn’t had a showing like this in the United States maybe since the 1890s. The message from Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump is simple - we're being screwed. They disagree on who's screwing us but actually agree on many underlying issues. It's fascinating, and thank God it's happening.
Every time I read posts like this, I get even angrier than I was.
Enough.
The Banker
"Sclossberg is pathetic, perhaps even a criminal.
The Republicans offer no viable alternative.
The constituents are fucked."
First of all, Ben Long is a young, but respectable candidate so there is an alternative. Do you even understand the geography of the 132nd District? Registration is easily 2 to 1 or more in favor of the Democrats. Further, nearly all sensible Republicans have fled Allentown and the 132nd District. Why would you stay in Allentown? To pay higher property taxes and nearly double EIT not to mention the crime and loss of property value? The middle to upper class has been fleeing Allentown, it's not exactly the fault of the Republican Party is it?
Ben Long is a nice kid. He actually does have some experience working in politics. Not as an elected official, but within the inner within of the Lehigh county repubs. Hes seen the wrong way to do things (Scott Ott, WW) and the right way (bill heydt) that being said, an R has no chance of winning the 132nd. Allentown proper, like so many other cities under dem control will not change. Look at detroit, Philadelphia, dc, atlanta...sad but true
Ben Long is indeed a nice kid.
A lost ball in high weeds, but a nice kid.
The guy was tutored by Jenn Mann, Don Cunningham and Toni Iannelli. When did this become an inconvenient truth?
Where did Schlossturd learn from Mann? Politics makes strange .....
Banker - You're right! I haven't heard it put so simply before, but "we" think we're getting screwed, no matter what our voter registration says. And...we're right!
"Where did Schlossturd learn from Mann? Politics makes strange .."
He worked for Mann.
Bernie
if Schlossberg receives $30,000 "pin" money and now appears to have spent even more than that, where does he get the audacity to show his face in poverty-ridden Allentown?
I saw him today at 1:00 campaigning door to door shouldn't he have been in Harrisburg trying to pass a budget that just shows all they cara about is saving their jobs.
too bad the repubs cant put up a viable cnadidate.... Ben Long is a kid who hasnt even graduated college and was living at mom and dads house 4 months ago (in a house outside of the district he wants to represent)
the repubs just dont have a clue as to who to run where and when
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