Rep. David Schweikert's campaign to pay $125,000 fine for 'knowing and willful' reporting violations

Rep. David Schweikert’s campaign committee agreed to pay a $125,000 fine to theFederal Election Commission for misusing donations and failing to adequately report other transactions, according to disclosures filed Friday by the FEC.

The commission was made aware of the matter by Schweikert’s committee and comes after years of allegations of unethical conduct that have swirled around Schweikert, R-Ariz., hindering fundraising and costing him hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The Daily Beast first reported the federal fine. 

The FEC’s probe of the matter determined there was “reason to believe” that violations by Schweikert’s campaign committee were “knowing and willful.”

The violations regarded inaccurate reporting and use of campaign funds for personal use by the candidate at a time when Oliver Schwab, who had been with Schweikert since his successful 2010 congressional campaign, served as campaign manager and chief of staff. Schwab stepped down in 2018 amid a separate ethics probe. At the time of his departure, he said he was leaving to have surgery and work for the U.S. Coast Guard.

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A separate agreement with the FEC by Schwab only cited a failure to maintain records.  

Schweikert, a fiscal conservative and former Maricopa County treasurer, has long said he viewed the matter as a “bookkeeping issue” and has blamed Schwab for much of the dispute. 

The agreement comes as Schweikert could face a difficult path to reelection in a recently redrawn district in the northeastern Valley that is less right-leaning and has attracted several candidates from both parties seeking to oust him. 

A six-page conciliation agreement signed Jan. 12 detailed violations that took place over a four-year span between 2014 and 2018. The agreement stated that Schweikert’s committee acknowledged that the FEC found reason to believe the violations were willful “but does not admit to the knowing and willful aspect of these violations.” 

The committee has agreed to amend its disclosure reports to accurately reflect transactions, the agreement said. 

Chris Baker, a consultant to Schweikert's campaign, noted in a written statement to The Arizona Republic that the inquiry arose after the committee became aware of Schwab’s violations and asked the FEC to look into the matter. 

“No one has been more directly harmed by the malfeasance of Congressman Schweikert’s former Chief of Staff than Friends of David Schweikert,” Baker said, referring to the name of his committee.

“... And while he has had no relationship or involvement with the campaign committee for several years now, we felt it was the right thing to self-report his violations and enter into a conciliation agreement with the FEC," Baker said.

The agreement said the campaign reported about $78,000 in expenditures that insufficiently described their purposes.

For example, some used generic labels, such as “strategic consulting,” for actual purposes that included “advertising,” “website design,” “lodging” and “food & beverage.” The campaign also misreported about $50,000 of expenses by reporting them to Schwab’s personal credit card companies instead of the vendor's directory or disclosing that Schwab made the expense. 

As campaign manager, Schwab had authorization to receive donations and make disbursements. He submitted to the committee false consulting invoices for his business, Chartwell Associates, LLC “in order to conceal the true purpose of certain disbursements and further concealed his own involvement” by routing payments through his firm, according to the FEC.

The false records “undermined” Schweikert’s campaign committee’s ability to submit accurate FEC reports. 

Additionally, the campaign committee used nearly $1,500 in donations to pay for childcare expenses and repaying staff who had paid for Schweikert’s personal expenses, including meals, dry cleaning and airline upgrades for personal travel. 

Schweikert’s committee agreed to pay the civil fine of $125,000, stop violating campaign laws and amend its campaign disclosure reports. 

The FEC matter came after a separate investigation of Schweikert’s operations by the House Ethics Committee concluded with Schweikert admitting to 11 rules violations, accepting a reprimand and agreeing to a $50,000 fine.

That committee found violations of undisclosed loans and campaign contributions, misuse of campaign funds and improper spending by his office. 

Those findings prompted Schweikert’s committee to ask the FEC to look into the committee’s campaign donations and spending.