http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/midsouth_news/article/0,1426,MCA_1497_4479341,00.html
Blackburn cash goes to son-in-lawPaid company more than $123,000 since 2002; practice not uncommon, finance experts say
By Bartholomew SullivanFebruary 19, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Since she was elected in 2002, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn's congressional campaign committee and a political action committee she controls have given more than $123,000 to a company run by her lobbyist son-in-law.
The company, Political Concepts LLC, was founded by Paul J. Ketchel III and operates from his and Blackburn's daughter's home in suburban Nashville. It received $46,935 for campaign work leading up to Blackburn's 2004 victory, in which she didn't have an opponent in the primary or general elections. It has so far received $76,100 in the current cycle leading up to this year's election in November.
There is nothing improper about the arrangement as far as federal election laws are concerned, and campaign finance experts say it's not that uncommon. But as congressmen in California and Texas make headlines for having relatives on their campaign payrolls, The Commercial Appeal examined Federal Election Commission records of five congressmen representing Greater Memphis.
Of the five campaigns, only Blackburn's showed payments to a family member's company. Her filings typically listed the payments as fund-raising, political consulting or salary, administration and overhead.
Spokesmen for U.S. Reps. John Tanner, D-Tenn., whose district includes Millington, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., whose district includes DeSoto and Marshall counties, and Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., whose district includes Crittenden County, said no family members were on the payroll or had a controlling interest in companies working on their campaigns.
Similarly, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., said, "No family member is on payroll, nor does the campaign contract with any firm where a Ford family member works."
In response to the newspaper's inquiries, Blackburn, a two-term Republican whose district includes parts of Shelby County, released a statement: "Over the years my husband and kids have made thousands of phone calls and knocked on thousands of doors while helping me and others campaign for office... Serving in public office can be tough and it's not unusual for the media and critics to attack a candidate's family, but it's not something you ever get used to dealing with."
Practice isn't uncommon
Campaign finance experts, while noting the practice is legal, also say it raises eyebrows once it comes to public attention. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., made headlines in December when it was revealed his campaign has paid his wife $505,000 for political consultancy services over a 10-year period.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, had both his wife and daughter on his campaign payroll. "My wife and daughter have (the) right, just like any other American, to be employed and be compensated for their employment," DeLay said when it came to light last April.
"Whenever a candidate employs a family member, it does draw attention, at the very least," said Shiela Krumholz of the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics.
Mike Surrusco, director of ethics campaigns for the watchdog group Common Cause, says if the amounts paid seem reasonable, and the work is legitimate, it's not an ethics violation to pay family members. And he said it's not uncommon.
"That they employ a family member is not by itself enough to warrant some sort of ethics investigation," Surrusco said.
Larry Noble, a former general counsel at the FEC and now executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, said federal campaign law "prohibits campaign funds being converted to personal use -- of any person, not just the member."
Lawyers for the Blackburn campaign committee and Political Concepts warned the newspaper not to suggest any impropriety in the arrangement, or risk legal action.
W. Ryan Teague, an Atlanta lawyer representing the Ketchels, says Blackburn's daughter, Mary Morgan Ketchel, 28, is an employee of Political Concepts and coordinates fund-raising. Teague declined to say how many employees it has or identify its other clients.
Records show Paul Ketchel, 30, is a lobbyist registered with the U.S. House of Representatives to represent three clients. But Teague emphasized that Political Concepts' work with the Blackburn campaign is separate and apart from Ketchel's work as a lobbyist with Ketchel & Associates, which has an office on C Street in Washington. Ketchel & Associates does not do political consulting or fund-raising. The companies share a mailbox in Tennessee for Ketchel's convenience, Teague said.
While the newspaper found no improprieties involving campaign finance laws, it did find that Political Concepts LLC had been considered "inactive" by the State of Tennessee, which administratively dissolved the company in 2003 for failing to file an annual report.
The company was reinstated last week after Ketchel, its president and CEO, filed required paperwork following the newspaper's inquiry. But before the reinstatement, Teague acknowledged the inactive status, writing, "as a legal matter though, the Company may legally still operate and conduct its business activities."
Operates from home
Teague said the company operates from the Ketchels' home in suburban Nashville. Payments from Blackburn's campaign are made to a Brentwood, Tenn., address -- a United Parcel Service mailbox eight miles from the Ketchels' home. The company's Washington address is another UPS store mailbox in Georgetown.
Since Blackburn's most recent uncontested victory, Political Concepts LLC has received regular payments through Dec. 31 totaling $65,678 from Marsha Blackburn for Congress Inc. for political consulting, administration and fund-raising, salaries and overhead.
Also since the 2004 election, the company has received payments of $10,422 from Wedge PAC, a political action committee Blackburn created last year.
Tennessee Division of Business Services records show Ketchel founded Political Concepts in June 2002, six months before Blackburn won her congressional seat, and listed as its address a $107,250 single-family Brentwood home owned by Charles and Marsha Blackburn.
Federal Election Commission records indicate Ketchel is the treasurer of Wedge PAC, Blackburn's leadership political action committee created last year, which has raised $95,683 and spent $53,756 in the current election cycle.
Before becoming the senior political adviser to Blackburn's successful 2002 run for office, Ketchel worked for Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., in what a Frist spokesman called "computer technology oversight." He also worked as a Washington lobbyist for a pharmaceutical company based in Seattle. He is an August 1998 graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in political science.
Before the 2002 victory, FEC records show Paul Ketchel -- not his company -- received $1,000 from the Blackburn campaign in July 2002 for "Web site development fees."
For the 2004 campaign, in which Blackburn was unchallenged in both the primary and general elections, her campaign paid Political Concepts LLC $15,433 and paid a company listed in FEC records as LLC Political Concepts an additional $31,502.95, or a total of $46,935.95.
Blackburn's committee paid another $9,497 to her daughter and son-in-law for travel reimbursement, computer equipment and other expenses.
Registered lobbyist
As a principal of Ketchel & Associates, Paul Ketchel is registered with the U.S. House of Representatives to lobby in behalf of three clients. Two of the three are based in Blackburn's district and their presidents are Wedge PAC contributors.
Marsha Blackburn for Congress Inc. has its own staff, and has listed Mary Ketchel as a director. FEC reports show the committee had $643,321 in cash on hand at the end of December. It has spent $319,185 in the current election cycle.
FEC records show that, in addition to the political consulting and fund-raiser work for which Blackburn's campaign committee has paid Political Concepts, it pays a monthly $500 fee for campaign management to Complete Campaigns of San Diego, Calif. Wedge PAC has also paid for administration, salary and overhead to Complete Campaigns.
In addition to paying her son-in-law's company in the months leading up to the uncontested 2004 victory, Blackburn's campaign also paid $30,969 to Bellwether Consulting Group of Alexandria, Va.
Unlike 2004, Blackburn's re-election bid won't be uncontested this year. Bill Morrison, a Southwind Middle School social studies teacher, has filed to challenge her as a Democrat.
Contact Washington correspondent Bartholomew Sullivan at (202) 408-2726.
