FEC sues Rep. Evans' campaign committee
Quad Cities Online reports on a suit filed in federal court in Illinois:
The Federal Election Commission has filed a complaint alleging U.S. Rep. Lane Evans' campaign committee funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to an ``alter ego'' organization set up to avoid federal donation limits.The complaint, filed Friday in federal court in Rock Island, covers fundraising efforts during the 1998 and 2000 campaigns.
The complaint names the Friends of Lane Evans and Samuel Gilman, its treasurer; the 17th District Victory Fund and Linda K. Anderson, its treasurer; and the Rock Island Democratic Central Committee, and John Gianulis, its treasurer.
Rep. Evans, D-Rock Island, defeated Republican Mark Baker in both campaigns. He defeated Mr. Baker by 10 percentage points in 2000, after squeaking out a five-point victory in 1998.
The FEC claims the 17th District Victory Fund is an ``alter ego'' of the congressman's campaign committee that took donations and made expenditures to directly benefit the campaign. It alleges the election committee and the Victory Fund failed to adequately account for the expenditures.