Reply #2: More fallout from NRCC embezzlement scandal

[Ichingcarpenter]

House Republicans have had to deal with the nearly $2 million tab from its embezzlement scandal ($725,000 stolen by their former treasurer, and continued legal and accounting costs trying to sort out the mess), not to mention the severe public embarrassment which allows people like me to say, "Republicans run their committees the same way they run the country."

But there's another major side-effect of the scandal, as noted by the subscription-only Roll Call:

The committee will need to hire an outside firm to conduct a standard audit of its books for 2007, and until that audit is complete, the NRCC will not be able to take out any bank loans to fund independent expenditure campaigns in late-breaking races <...>

The ability to obtain a line of credit, while standard practice for a national party committee, could be particularly important for the NRCC this fall. The committee had $6.7 million in cash on hand as of April 30 and has 30 open seats to defend and several incumbents being threatened by the cash-flush Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The DCCC closed April with more than $45 million in the bank.

The audit is only expected to last six weeks once begun (they haven't yet), but NRCC chair doesn't sound too confident about the matter.

When asked if the NRCC would be in a position to borrow money from a bank this fall, committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) said: "I think so, but we’ll just have to now work that through."


http://www.dailykos.com/