Keeping Campaign Cash: TX State Senator Brimer

It just keeps piling up for Texas State Senator Brimer (R-Fort Worth). According to The Lone Star Project, Brimer found another loophole to keep his donors money for himself and his family. Luckily for Senator Brimer, the statute of limitations has probably run out and he might just get away with what ever he kept.

According to The Lone Star Project, Brimer has been repaying himself for loans he made to his campaign. This in itself is nothing unusual. Many elected officials and candidates loan their campaign money and repay themselves at a later date with campaign funds. Only one problem...... Brimer paid himself more than what he loaned himself. From The Lone Star Project:

• Brimer loaned his campaign $46,000 during 1987 and 1988
  
• Brimer family members loaned the Kim Brimer Campaign an additional $10,000
  
• Brimer made a series of payments to himself totaling at least $83,953, reported as “loan repayments,” from 1988 to 1992
  
• As a result, Kim Brimer received at least $37,953 more than the amount he loaned himself.
  

It is complicated.

Reviewing the ethics reports on the Texas Ethics Commission for repayment of loans is difficult especially when your campaign and reports span a number of years. Repayment of loans can be made at anytime for loans made during the campaign. This is complicated enough that anyone who really wanted to repay themselves for loans they never made, could do it and never get caught by their donors.

It's not like buying a condo.

This isn't saying Brimer took advantage of his donors and secretly stole money, like some who buys a condo using $170,000 of their campaign donations, hiding it behind payments to his wife's realty company for "rent". That would be a completely different situation.

It's a clerical error.

Look for Brimer to claim it to be a clerical error in reporting, which it could be, but it doesn't matter since the Texas Ethics Commission wouldn't do anything about it anyway citing the lapse of the statute limitations. Look at what they didn't do for former State Representative Goodman who used his donors money to buy a condo. He was only fined $10,000 for keeping almost $70,000. And he didn't have to pay back the money he kept. This is good news for Brimer.

No Place But Texas.