Texans for Public Justice Files Ethics Complaint on Rick Perry's Mansion Fund

Texans for Public Justice filed an ethics complaint alleging that Rick PErry's campaign has “violated camapign discloser law by failing to itemize how it spent $816,000” on Perry's rental mansion.

From their press release (link to PDF):

Since 2001, the campaign reported 145 “Mansion Fund” expenditures totaling more than $816,000. TPJ’s complaint alleges that the campaign is required to itemize each underlying “Mansion-Fund” expenditure, reporting the name of the vendor, as well as the amount, date and purpose of each transaction. The Ethics Commission similarly prohibits campaigns from reporting lump-sum expenditures for credit card bills because this prevents the public from seeing when the campaign paid what to whom. The Ethics Commission has treated campaign disclosures containing unitemized credit-card expenditures as late or incomplete reports subject to a penalty of $500 per report.

[…]

Under the Public Information Act, TPJ obtained a copy of a related “Mansion Fund” expense ledger that the Governor’s Office initially provided to the Associated Press. The ledger contains entries for several hundred payments from October 2007 through December 2009 totaling $129,020. The ledger lists payments to vendors of food, alcohol, flowers, cable television, entertainment and other expenses. The campaign-related ledger is covered by the Public Information Act because it was maintained by a state employee. Campaigns are required to disclose such itemized expenditures in regular campaign reports that the Ethics Commission posts on the Internet.

The Associated Press has a write-up about the complaint:

A government watchdog group is filing a complaint against GOP Gov. Rick Perry's campaign for failing to disclose how it spends money at the governor's mansion and at his interim residence.

Since 2001, Perry's campaign has spent more than $800,000 on “mansion expenditures.”

Texans for Public Justice said in a complaint Tuesday that Perry's campaign violated disclosure laws by failing to itemize the spending.

Records obtained this year by The Associated Press show Perry has used campaign money to throw parties, buy food and drink, and pay for cable TV and other services at his official residence.

The story has been out for months, and Perry can't shake it. If anything, its only going to continue to bring him down.

For old time's sake — Rick Perry's rental mansion:

Previously on BOR:

• Rick Perry Blames DPS, Legislature for His Rental Mansion Extravagance
• Rick Perry's Favorite Things: “It Sucks To Be You, But It's Great Being Me!”
• Becky Moeller & the Texas AFL-CIO Offer Rick Perry Alternative Housing for $1 a Year
• Rick Perry's $10,000-a-Month Rental Mansion On TV, In Cartoons
• Rick Perry's $10,000 a Month Rental Mansion Comes With a $700 Clothes Rack
• Rick Perry Drives a Mercedes Benz, Lives in a $1.85 Million Mansion