Brady Campaign Worker Convicted Of Campaign Finance Violations

PHILADELPHIA – An operative for a Democratic congressman was convicted of campaign violations tied to the 2012 Democratic primary race in Pennsylvania First Congressional District, federal officials said.

U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced recently that Kenneth Smukler, 58, a long-time Philadelphia-area political consultant, was convicted by a jury of multiple counts related to violating political campaign laws in connection with Bob Brady (D-1) and his primary campaign in 2012.

Smukler was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States; two counts of causing unlawful campaign contributions; one count of causing false campaign expenditure reports; two counts of causing false statements; two counts of making contributions in the name of another; and one count of obstruction.

He is set to be sentenced on March 13, 2019 before the Honorable Jan E. DuBois.

In the 2012 Democratic primary election for Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District, Jimmie Moore, a former Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge, ran against the incumbent, Congressman Bob Brady.

Moore struck a corrupt deal by which he agreed to withdraw from the race in exchange for funds from the Bob Brady for Congress campaign to be used to pay off Moore’s campaign debts, federal authorities said.

Those debts included money that Jimmie Moore for Congress owed to several vendors, to Moore himself, and to Moore’s campaign manager, Carolyn Cavaness, authorities said.

On February 29, 2012, Moore withdrew from the race.

Moore pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in October 2017.

Moore and Cavaness created a list of debts owed by the Moore campaign which was subsequently provided to Smukler, who was working with the Brady campaign.

Cavaness pleaded guilty to giving false statements to the Federal Election Commission in connection with this scheme in July 2017.

Smukler arranged for the Moore campaign to receive $90,000 from the Brady campaign through false documents and a series of illegal pass-throughs, including the consulting firm of another Brady associate and co-conspirator, D.A. Jones, according to authorities.

None of the payments, which exceeded the applicable contribution limits, were reported to the Federal Election Commission. Per the arrangement, the three installments were illegally disguised as payments for a poll and consulting services, federal officials said.

Marjorie Margolies, a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, ran in the 2014 Democratic primary election for Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District.

Smukler, a veteran of prior Margolies political campaigns, was running the Margolies campaign in 2014.

By early April 2014, the primary race was close, and the Margolies campaign was running out of money that the campaign could legally spend in the primary.

Smukler caused the Margolies campaign to illegally spend general election funds in his attempt to win the primary election for his candidate, then lied about it to the campaign’s lawyer, according to federal authorities.

That lawyer, in turn, unwittingly reported the lies to the FEC in response to a complaint filed by one of Margolies’ opponents, authorities said. Additionally, Smukler caused excessive campaign contributions and illegal conduit contributions, all of which were hidden in FEC filings, according to officials.

"Smukler was the mastermind of multiple crooked political schemes," McSwain said. "He showed a true pattern of deception by misusing funds and lying to corrupt the entire political process. The only way to guarantee open and fair elections is to have everyone play by the same rules. Smukler ignored those rules and broke the law so that his candidates could try to win at all costs. We are grateful that the jury saw through his lies and held him accountable for his widespread criminal conduct."

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