Kentucky: drug czar may have violated Hatch Act
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: Last year, during a tight race between first-term Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Fort Mitchell, and former Democratic congressman Ken Lucas, the White House sent the national drug czar, John Walters, to Davis' district.
Congressional investigators are now looking into whether the White House designed such visits to boost the standing of vulnerable candidates in violation of campaign laws.
A "Drug Task Force Event" that Davis hosted Aug. 21 in Ashland was scheduled by Sara Taylor, then the White House director of political affairs. The trip was one of 20 events, paid for with tax dollars, that Taylor plotted in Republican congressional districts around the country for Walters or his deputies. Davis was the only Kentuckian on the list. He went on to defeat Lucas with 52 percent of the vote.
The list of Walters' pre-election events was released along with other documents yesterday by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., whose House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating the possibility that federal agencies were used to help re-elect Republicans and defeat Democrats. -- Kentucky.com | 07/18/2007 | Kentucky event part of inquiry