Self-Dealing Omitted: Rep. Grace Napolitano Pays Herself $200,000 In Interest On '98 Loan

Photo: Grace Napolitano (Image from The Washington Post)

From News Busters:

The Democrats campaigned to take over the reins of the majority in Congress by promising to "drain the swamp" of a "culture of corruption" by the Republican Party. Examples of Democratic corruption or self-dealing go largely unnoticed. For two weeks now, the national media has ignored a Los Angeles Times report that Rep. Grace Napolitano has paid herself more than $150,000 in interest on $150,000 she loaned herself in her initial 1998 House campaign. (The Whittier Daily News later amended that figure upward to $205,922.) With the exception of the Hannity show on Fox News, no one else in the national media has noticed. Andrew Zajac reported on February 14:

Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk) has collected tens of thousands of dollars in personal income by charging double-digit interest on money she lent her campaign 11 years ago and soliciting donations from Washington lobbyists at "debt retirement" fundraisers.

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My Comment: This is a sweet deal. Be a loan shark to yourself, and collect the money from your campaign contributors.

How Some Politicians Get Rich While In Office

California Congresswoman Discovers Get-Rich-Quick Scheme -- Hot Air

People who wonder how elected officials come to Congress on modest means and retire wealthy should study Rep. Grace Napolitano of California. Few have found campaigning as personally enriching as Napolitano … literally. And according to the FEC, her scheme is apparently completely legal:

During a decade in Congress, California Representative Grace Napolitano has pocketed more than $200,000 of political contributions by charging as much as 18 percent interest on money she loaned to her own campaign.

The suburban Los Angeles Democrat made the $150,000 loan in 1998, when she was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Through Dec. 31, her campaign committee has used donations to pay Napolitano $221,780 of interest while reducing the principal by just $64,727, a review of her Federal Election Commission filings shows.

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My Comment: I give credit where credit is due .... this is a brilliant scheme. Morally corrupt .... but brilliant.