Complaint claims GOP lawmaker failed to report $20,000 in campaign contributions
A complaint filed with the State Board of Elections Friday claims a top Republican in the North Carolina House failed to report more than $20,000 in campaign contributions.
It alleges that GOP Rep. Linda Johnson of Kannapolis failed to report money from at least 16 political action committees to her campaign. It also claims at least $2,500 in unreported contributions to the Committee to elect Republican Women, of which Johnson is treasurer and which uses her home address.
The complaint was filed by Bob Hall, the former executive director of Democracy North Carolina.
“I think it’s political,” Johnson told the Observer Friday.
“Whether it’s a Democrat or Republican they always say its political,” Hall said. “But there’s missing money and there may be an explanation . . . I can’t tell whether there some intentional or accidental issues.”
Hall is a longtime campaign finance watchdog. His investigations have targeted lawmakers of both parties including former Democratic House Speaker Jim Black of Matthews, who was sentenced in 2007 for taking thousands of dollars in illegal payments.
Johnson is not running for re-election after 20 years in office. She chairs the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees the state budget, as well as the Education Committee.
A spokesman for the elections board said her reports are being audited. In November, election officials sent her two compliance letters, one ordering her to pay a $500 fine for not filing an earlier report. Records show she paid a $1,000 fine for non-compliance in 2018.
The latest complaint alleges unreported contributions dating to 2016. They include money from PACs representing Atrium ($5,000), State Farm ($1,500) and the Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association ($2,000).
Johnson told the Observer that any problems stem from flood damage to her home office during a hurricane. It’s unclear whether it was Hurricane Matthew in 2016 or Florence in 2018. Both brought heavy rain to the Charlotte area.
“The files were on the floor and they got soaked and fell apart,” she said Friday.
Last August, former Democratic Rep. Rodney Moore of Charlotte pleaded guilty to a campaign finance-related charge. He was sentenced to up to five months in prison, a sentence suspended pending completion of 12 months of unsupervised probation.
He was indicted in March on nine felony counts involving false campaign reports. A former Democratic House leader, he was accused of filing false campaign reports after investigators found that he failed to report more than $141,000 in campaign contributions and expenditures.
Authorities said he failed to disclose tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions and campaign expenses, including money for movie tickets, dry cleaning and car washes.
Moore pleaded guilty to one felony count of making felony false statements under oath, according to the Mecklenburg District Attorney’s office.
He was the first N.C. lawmaker charged with campaign finance violations since 2016 when former Republican Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County was indicted for using more than $200,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. A year later he was sentenced to eight months in prison on federal charges.
