House Ethics Committee Clears Trahan In Campaign Finance Review

ANDOVER, MA — The U.S. House Ethics Committee cleared Rep. Lori Trahan in its review of her 2018 campaign finances, it said in a report adopted Wednesday.

The committee voted unanimously that the first-term congresswoman did not violate laws, regulations, U.S. House rules or other standards in her campaign and closed the matter.

Congressional ethics investigators had alleged that Trahan's campaign accepted contributions beyond legal limits, in the form of $300,000 in contributions from Trahan's husband, David Trahan. The investigators wrote that the contributions violated the $2,700 individual limit and were disguised as personal loans from the candidate.

"The Committee found that the funds used to source Representative Trahan’s personal loans to the Campaign were marital property to which Representative Trahan had a legal right of access and control," the Committee wrote in its report. "Accordingly, the loans were sourced from Representative Trahan’s personal funds, not excessive contributions from her husband."

"The respected House Ethics Committee — made up of Democrats and Republicans — investigated this matter thoroughly and has now unanimously confirmed what I’ve always maintained: that my campaign acted ethically and that these baseless accusations were just politics," Trahan said in a statement. "Serving the people of the Third Congressional District continues to be the greatest honor of my life, and I will continue to focus on addressing the needs of the people I represent."

The committee also found no evidence that "alleged disclosure commissions and errors" were knowing and willful and directed Trahan to have her campaign contact the Federal Election Commission to make sure disclosures are accurate.

The freshman congresswoman, a Westford Democrat, was elected following a tightly contested primary, in which she beat Dan Koh of Andover in a 10-way race by 0.1 percent following a recount.

The committee report details a set of loans Trahan made to her campaign using funds that her husband had recently transferred from his personal account or business accounts, as well as a line of credit the Trahans took out on their house. The.committee found that all those funds qualified as "personal funds" that she could access, under a prenuptial agreement between the Trahans.

"Because Massachusetts law allows for prenuptial agreements like the Trahans’, and the prenuptial agreement provided Representative Trahan, long before she was a candidate, equal rights to manage and dispose of Mr. Trahan’s salary and income, the Committee found Mr. Trahan’s salary and income satisfied the definition of a candidate’s personal funds under FECA," they wrote. "As such, the loans Representative Trahan made using Mr. Trahan’s salary and income were her personal funds and not excessive contributions from Mr. Trahan."

The committee noted that "it is not clear that the line of credit was property reported on the amended [FEC] filing," but the FEC guidance on such matters is "limited" so they encourage Trahan's campaign to contact the FEC to resolve the matter.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.