Freshman Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) paid herself tens of thousands of dollars from her campaign’s funds during the midterm elections, filings with the Federal Election Commission show.
Tlaib, who was elected to the House last November, began paying herself on May 7, 2018, from Rashida Tlaib for Congress, her campaign committee, and averaged $4,000 per month outside of August, which included two checks of $3,000 each.
From May 7 until the general election on Nov. 6, Tlaib paid herself a total of $28,000 in payments from the campaign committee, which first-time candidates are permitted to do up until the day of the general election if they so choose.
“If the candidate wins the primary election, his or her principal campaign committee may pay him or her a salary from campaign funds through the date of the general election, up to and including the date of any general election runoff,” FEC provisions state. “If the candidate loses the primary, withdraws from the race, or otherwise ceases to be a candidate, no salary payments may be paid beyond the date he or she is no longer a candidate.”
An FEC spokesperson said that a candidate can pay themselves after the general election only for activity that occurred up to the day of the election. – READ MORE