Top Dem senators accuse ex-treasurer of stealing campaign funds: report

Top Democratic lawmakers believe an ex-campaign treasurer is responsible for the “‘misappropriation’ of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds,” according to an exclusive Rolling Stone report.Per the report, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) — who lead two out of the four Democratic political committees accusing former treasurer Katherine Buchanan of misappropriating the funds — are conducting their own internal investigation on the matter after notifying law enforcement officials.In a letter sent to the Federal Election Commission on June 6, Kaine’s campaign committee confirmed it “does not know the extent of Ms. Buchanan’s apparent misappropriations,” but Buchanan has been fired from her position. READ MORE: GOP lawmaker hit with $125K FEC fine for repeated campaign law violationsRolling Stone reports, “Federal authorities contacted Kaine’s campaign about Buchanan in April, and the campaign ‘immediately removed the individual’s access to all campaign accounts, notified the FEC and the Alexandria (Va.) Police Department, and hired a new compliance firm.'”Additionally, “Federal authorities also alerted Warner’s office to the allegations in April, and Warner’s committee ‘moved immediately to remove Ms. Buchanan’s access to the accounts in question,’ Rachel Cohen, a Warner spokesperson, said in an email.”Cohen added, “The committee is currently conducting an audit, has implemented corrective measures, put in place a new compliance firm, and is working with the FEC on this issue.”READ MORE: DOJ announces criminal investigation into ‘squad’ member for alleged misuse of gov’t funds

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