Report: Trahan’s Legal Bills Pile Up Over $300,000 Amid Probe

ANDOVER, MA — Rep. Lori Trahan has accumulated nearly $380,000 on legal fees, according to a report Monday night by the Boston Globe. Trahan (D-Westford) is facing a House Ethics Committee review into her campaign finance. Congressional ethics investigators said they found "substantial reason to believe" that the freshman congresswoman's campaign accepted contributions beyond legal limits, and failed to disclose required information in filings.

In a September referral to the Ethics Committee, Office of Congressional ethics investigators wrote that Trahan's husband, David Trahan, made $300,000 in contributions, beyond the maximum $2,700 allowed, which the campaign disguised as personal loans from the candidate. The Committee announced its review in December.

According to the Globe report, based on FEC filings, Trahan spent $191,000 on Perkins Coie fees in the final quarter of 2019, almost as much as the $204,000 she reported raising.

Trahan narrowly won the Democratic primary in the third congressional district in 2018, before easily winning the general election.

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