Lynn Fitch: Over $200,000 in Campaign Finance Irregularities
You would think of all people our State Treasurer would have impeccable campaign finance reports … but you’d be wrong about that.
There are more than $200,000 in discrepancies in Fitch’s campaign finance reports. These include very large unitemized personal reimbursements, large unitemized credit card payments, suspiciously high charges at luxury spas and hotels, and over $120,000 in disbursements for an apparent loan that was never properly disclosed.
If we can’t trust our State Treasurer Lynn Fitch with her own campaign finances, how can we trust her with the taxpayers’ finances? And perhaps more importantly, what information is she hiding in these suspicious campaign finance reports?
“Our campaign finance laws need reforming. These practices are illegal under federal campaign law and should be under Mississippi’s. But a law shouldn’t be required for Lynn Fitch to do the right thing. I challenge Lynn Fitch to live up to her promise of transparency and come clean on these questionable expenditures,” said Republican candidate for Treasurer David McRae.
Spas, Credit Cards, Luxury Hotels, and other Questionable Expenditures
$13,032.96 – American Express – unitemized and no date. (2/1/13 report)
$5,576.67 – Bank of America – unitemized and no date. (2/1/13 report)
$3,934.28 – Mandarin Oriental – no date. (2/1/13 report) No further detail. Is this the luxury spa and hotel chain?
$1,125.67 – Marriott – 12/8/11- “travel” (post general election vacation?)
$1,513.40 – Embassy Suites – 10/6/11 – “travel” (post primary election vacation?)
$945.81 – Hilton Hotels – no date (10/10/12 report)
$1,500.00 – Governor’s Mansion Matt Huffman 1/9/13 – “campaign events”
Unitemized Personal Reimbursements
$36,494.53 – Lynn Fitch – unitemized and no date. (2/1/13 report)
$3,484.50 – Lynn Fitch – 5/7/15 – “expense reimbursement”
$1,086.50 – Lynn Fitch – 5/15/15 – “expense reimbursement”
$2,515.54 – Lynn Fitch – 3/31/15 – “expense reimbursement”
$570.99 – Lynn Fitch – 1/21/15 – ”expense reimbursement”
$5,576.88 – Lynn Fitch – 1/30/15 – itemized, but several entries seem unusually high.
$5,042.26 – Lynn Fitch – 1/17/14 – itemized, but several entries seem unusually high.
Undocumented Loan Payments
$86,581.05 – Trustmark – no date but on 2/1/13 report
$10,000.00 – Trustmark 5/10/15 – “loan payment”
$2,970.00 – Trustmark – 2/20/15 – “interest expense”
$2,940.00 – Trustmark – 4/23/15 – “interest expense”
$12,070.75 – Trustmark Loan Operations 1/30/15 – “interest expense” (five disbursements on 1/10, 4/7, two on 7/11, and 9/11)
$7,155.55 – Trustmark Loan Operations (two disbursements 6/17 /13 and 9/9/13) “interest expense”
$3,750.00 – Trustmark – 1/10/12 – “loan payable”
$1,000.00 – Trustmark – 10/5/11 – “loan payment”
$829.78 – Trustmark – 9/9/11 – “note payable
Campaign loans are allowed under law, but Lynn Fitch has never disclosed receiving a campaign loan from Trustmark. How much is the loan? When was the loan made to the campaign? Who signed for the loan – just Ms. Fitch or others too?
David McRae Press Release
7/28/15
Magnolia Tribune
