XPost: alt.fraud, az.politics, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   A watchdog group with a history of Democratic campaign donations has   
   filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging   
   that former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) spent more than $700,000   
   in leftover campaign funds on personal expenses after leaving office.   
      
   On Feb. 19, 2026, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the   
   FEC asserting that Sinema’s committee, Sinema for Arizona, violated   
   federal campaign finance law by using campaign funds for travel,   
   lodging, meals, and staff salaries unrelated to political activity or   
   winding down the campaign.   
      
   The complaint, a copy of which was reviewed via DocumentCloud, outlines   
   expenditures totaling more than $700,000 made after Sinema left the   
   Senate in January 2025. It alleges payments for airfare, upscale hotel   
   stays, dining, car service, event tickets, and staff salaries that do   
   not appear to be connected to permissible campaign uses after departing   
   office.   
      
   The alleged expenditures include:   
      
   Over $230,000 on travel, including stays at luxury hotels in London,   
   Berlin, Jackson Hole, and the Hamptons, plus Uber rides. Nearly $20,000   
   on meals, including a $1,300 dinner at the Michelin-starred Hide   
   restaurant in London More than half of the alleged improper spending on   
   salaries for six staffers, some of whom held other employment $151,000   
   to Daniel Winkler, Sinema’s former senior adviser, who joined her at   
   lobbying firm Hogan Lovells in March 2025. $85,000 to Michelle Davidson,   
   former deputy chief of staff, who served as executive director of the   
   Spark Center at ASU while receiving the payments Nearly $109,000 to   
   Matthew Ammel for security services, according to the complaint $34,000   
   on office supplies $8,000 on Apple products   
   Federal campaign finance law prohibits converting campaign funds to   
   personal use. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, funds raised to   
   support a candidate may be used after leaving office for winding down   
   the campaign, transferring to other candidates, refunding donors or   
   charitable contributions, but not for personal benefit.   
      
   In a written statement accompanying the Campaign Legal Center press   
   release, Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at   
      
   “Former Senator Sinema appears to have spent an exorbitant amount of   
   campaign money on a personal spending spree during the 12 months after   
   she left office. The FEC must investigate her use of campaign money and   
   hold her accountable for any violations of campaign finance law.”   
      
   He observed, “Federal campaign finance laws are clear that politicians   
   who leave office do not have the green light to use leftover campaign   
   funds however they want.”   
      
   According to the complaint, Sinema for Arizona had approximately $4.2   
   million in cash on hand when Sinema left the Senate in January 2025. The   
   complaint says roughly $3 million of that total was used to help launch   
   the Spark Center for Innovation in Learning at Arizona State University,   
   while the remaining funds were spent on the personal expenses in   
   question.   
      
   According to OpenSecrets.org, the Campaign Legal Center made $2,949 in   
   individual contributions during the 2024 cycle, or 67.25% of its 2024   
   individual contributions to Democratic candidates.   
      
   Previous FEC Complaint Filed by CREW   
      
   This is not the first ethics complaint involving Sinema’s use of   
   campaign cash. In December 2024, the ethics watchdog Citizens for   
   Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a separate FEC   
   complaint alleging that Sinema used campaign funds on personal travel   
   and expenses after announcing she would not seek reelection. CREW’s   
   complaint cited hotel and meal expenses during trips to Europe and   
   California wine country that CREW said did not appear tied to campaign   
   or official duties.   
      
   CREW’s complaint noted that, following Sinema’s March 5, 2024   
   announcement that she would not seek another term, her campaign reported   
   only one unitemized dollar in new contributions but still disbursed   
   funds for travel and related expenses that the group said were not   
   connected to campaign activities.   
      
   rule of thumb is that any dollar your campaign spends has to be for the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)