[House Report 104-876]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 289
104th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 104-876
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE MATTER OF REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS
__________
R E P O R T
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 2, 1997.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT
NANCY L. JOHNSON, Connecticut,
Chairman
JIM McDERMOTT, Ranking Minority MemberIM BUNNING, Kentucky
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland PORTER J. GOSS, Florida
NANCY PELOSI, California DAVID L. HOBSON, Ohio
ROBERT A. BORSKI, Pennsylvania STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico
THOMAS C. SAWYER, Ohio
Theodore J. Van Der Meid, Chief
Counsel
Virginia H. Johnson, Counsel
David H. Laufman, Counsel
Bernard Raimo, Counsel
Charles J. Willoughby, Counsel
John Vargo, Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
I. Introduction.....................................................1
II. Conduct of the Investigation.....................................2
III. Relevant Standards of Conduct....................................4
IV. Results of Investigation.........................................6
A. Count I (Improper Campaign Activity by House
Employees)............................................. 7
1. Mismanagement of Campaign Finance Operations...... 7
2. Organization of Campaign Events................... 11
B. Count II (Use of Official Funds for Campaign Purposes) 12
C. Count III (Performance of Personal Services by House
Employees)............................................. 14
1. Payment of Personal Bills......................... 14
2. Retrieval of Personal Mail........................ 15
3. Cleaning Representative Collins' Home............. 15
4. Liaison With Vendors.............................. 16
5. Miscellaneous Personal Services................... 16
D. Count IV (Improper Use of Vouchered Postage Stamps)... 17
E. Count V (Use of Official Funds for Personal Purposes). 18
F. Count VI (Commingling and Conversion of Campaign
Resources)............................................. 19
1. Checks Issued by Campaign Committee............... 19
2. Funds Derived from Campaign Resources............. 19
a. Cashier's Check for $8,500.00................. 19
b. Cashier's Check for $2,400.00................. 21
3. Purchase of Personal Appliances................... 21
G. Count VII (Expenditure of Campaign Funds Not
Attributable to Bona Fide Campaign or Political
Purposes).............................................. 23
1. Loan to House Employee............................ 23
2. Expenditures Relating to Trip to Africa........... 24
3. Personal Cleaning Services........................ 26
H. Count VIII (Misuse of Scholarship Funds).............. 26
I. Count IX (Maintenance of Unofficial Account).......... 32
J. Count X (Employee Raises Not Commensurate With
Official Duties)....................................... 34
K. Count XI (Improper Solicitation)...................... 36
APPENDIX
A. October 24, 1994, letter from Representatives Nancy L. Johnson
and Jim McDermott to Representative Barbara-Rose Collins....... 39
B. November 22, 1995, and December 1, 1995, letters from
Representative Barbara-Rose Collins to Committee on Standards
of Official Conduct............................................ 41
C. December 4, 1995, Resolution of Preliminary Inquiry........... 43
D. February 29, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning and
Robert Borski to Hon. Saul A. Green, United States Attorney for
the Eastern District of Michigan............................... 44
E. March 27, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning and
Robert Borski to Lynn Helland, Chief, Special Prosecutions
Unit, Office of the U.S. Attorney.............................. 45
F. January 26, 1996, and February 7, 1996, letters from Cornelius
Pitts, Esq. to the Hon. Nancy L. Johnson....................... 47
G. February 28, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning and
Robert A. Borski to Cornelius Pitts, Esq....................... 50
H. March 8, 1996, letter from Cornelius Pitts, Esq. to the Hon.
Jim Bunning and the Hon. Robert A. Borski; March 14, 1996,
letter from Representatives Jim Bunning and Robert A. Borski to
Cornelius Pitts, Esq........................................... 53
I. March 18, 1996, motion to quash subpoena by Respondent
Barbara-Rose Collins, and accompanying memorandum in support of
motion......................................................... 56
J. March 22, 1996, letter from Representative Nancy L. Johnson to
Cornelius Pitts, Esq........................................... 63
K. June 27, 1996, letter from Jonathan S. Feld, Esq. to David H.
Laufman, Esq................................................... 65
L. July 25, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning and
Robert A. Borski to Jonathan S. Feld, Esq...................... 66
M. August 6, 1996, letter from Jonathan S. Feld, Esq. to David
Laufman........................................................ 68
N. September 12, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning
and Robert A. Borski to Jonathan S. Feld, Esq.................. 69
O. July 25, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning and
Robert A. Borski to Representative Barbara-Rose Collins........ 71
P. August 26, 1996, letter from Jonathan S. Feld, Esq. to the
Hon. Jim Bunning and the Hon. Robert A. Borski................. 81
Q. September 12, 1996, Statement of Alleged Violation............ 82
R. September 17, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning
and Robert Borski to Representative Barbara-Rose Collins....... 93
S. October 2, 1996, Motion and Memorandum of Points and
Authorities in Support of Request for Bill of Particulars by
Representative Barbara-Rose Collins............................ 95
T. October 7, 1996, letter from Representatives Jim Bunning and
Robert A. Borski to Jonathan Feld, Esq......................... 100
U. October 24, 1996, letter from Jonathan S. Feld, Esq. to David
Laufman........................................................ 102
V. October 25, 1996, memorandum from Representatives Jim Bunning
and Robert A. Borski to Hon. Nancy L. Johnson and Hon. Jim
McDermott...................................................... 103
Calendar No. 289
104th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 104-876
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE MATTER OF REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS
_______
January 2, 1997.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______________________________________________________________________
Mrs. Johnson, from the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
I. Introduction
The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
(``Committee'') submits this report pursuant to House Rule X,
Clause 4(e)(2), which authorizes the Committee to investigate
any alleged violation, by a Member, officer, or employee of the
House, of the Code of Official Conduct or of any law, rule,
regulation, or other standard of conduct applicable to the
conduct of such Member, officer, or employee.
In the summer and fall of 1995, newspapers in Detroit and
Washington, D.C. published allegations by former House
employees that Representative Barbara-Rose Collins had misused
official House resources, campaign funds, and the resources of
a scholarship fund bearing her name. Those allegations, made by
former staff from Representative Collins' district
congressional office in Detroit, included charges that:
Congressional staff routinely were instructed to
perform campaign-related tasks in the congressional
office and/or at times when they should have been
performing their official duties, such as collecting
and depositing campaign contribution checks, issuing
campaign checks, and maintaining campaign financial
records;
Congressional staff were required to perform personal
services for Representative Collins at times when they
should have been performing their official duties;
Representative Collins misused official resources by,
among other things, routinely purchasing postage stamps
with official funds and using those stamps for personal
and campaign purposes; and
Representative Collins used money from her campaign
treasury and from a community scholarship fund for
personal purposes.
On September 20, 1995, the Committee authorized staff to
interview former employees of Representative Collins' district
office to verify the published allegations. In early October
1995, two Committee staff attorneys traveled to Detroit and
interviewed two former employees of Representative Collins'
district office, who corroborated the information reported in
the press.
On October 24, 1995, the Committee notified Representative
Collins that it was seeking to determine whether these
allegations merited further inquiry, and invited her to provide
a written response to the allegations.1 Representative
Collins responded in letters dated November 22, 1995, and
December 1, 1995, in which she denied the allegations.2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ App. A.
\2\ App. B.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On December 5, 1995, the Committee voted to initiate a
Preliminary Inquiry regarding allegations that Representative
Collins misused official, campaign, and scholarship fund
resources.3 Subsequently, an Investigative Subcommittee
(``Subcommittee'') was established consisting of
Representatives Jim Bunning, Robert Borski, David Hobson, and
Thomas Sawyer. The Committee notified Representative Collins of
the adoption of the Resolution of Preliminary Inquiry and the
establishment of the Subcommittee, as required by Committee
rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ App. C.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Conduct of the Investigation
The Subcommittee employed the full range of investigative
techniques during the investigation. It obtained sworn
testimony in Executive Session from former and current members
of Representative Collins' congressional staff. The
Subcommittee also obtained a sworn affidavit from an official
associated with Comerica Bank regarding the purchase of a
cashier's check from that bank. In some instances, Committee
staff conducted informal interviews, sometimes by telephone.
The Subcommittee also obtained relevant documents and
records by written requests for voluntary compliance and by the
issuance of subpoenas. Documents obtained by the Subcommittee
included bank records concerning Representative Collins'
personal bank account, campaign account, and a scholarship and
community service fund bearing Representative Collins' name;
filings with the Federal Election Commission by Representative
Collins' campaign organization, ``Friends of Barbara-Rose
Collins''; corporate and other records relating to the
scholarship and community service fund; and records from the
House Office of Finance concerning official expenditures by
Representative Collins' congressional office and authorizations
for staff salary increases.
In conducting its investigation, the Subcommittee was
concerned about the possibility of interfering with an ongoing
criminal investigation by the Department of Justice
(``Department'') relating to Representative Collins. In
February 1996, the Subcommittee notified the Department by
letter that it had initiated an investigation of Representative
Collins, specifying the allegations under review.4 In
March 1996, the Subcommittee sent a second letter to the
Department.\5\ In those letters, the Subcommittee advised the
Department that it had issued subpoenas to several persons who
might be of interest to the grand jury in the government's
investigation, and asked if the Department had any objection to
the Subcommittee's proceeding with its investigation of
Representative Collins. The Department did not respond to the
Subcommittee's letters, and at no time did the Department
subsequently request that the Committee suspend or limit its
investigation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ App. D.
\5\ App. E.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The existence of a parallel criminal investigation impeded
the Subcommittee's access to information from certain
witnesses. In response to subpoenas for their testimony,
certain material witnesses asserted their right under the Fifth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to avoid testifying before
the Subcommittee.
Representative Collins filed two motions with the
Subcommittee during the early stages of the investigation. In
letters dated January 26, 1996, and February 7, 1996,
Representative Collins, through her counsel, requested a stay
of the Subcommittee's investigation pending the outcome of the
criminal investigation by the Department.\6\ On February 28,
1996, the Subcommittee notified counsel for Representative
Collins that it was denying the request for a stay.\7\ The
Subcommittee also denied a subsequent motion for
reconsideration of its denial of a stay.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ App. F.
\7\ App. G.
\8\ App. H.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On March 21, 1996, Representative Collins filed a motion to
quash a documentary subpoena issued by the Committee on
February 28, 1996.9 The Subcommittee denied that motion on
March 22, 1996.10
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ App. I.
\10\ App. J.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On June 27, 1996, counsel for Representative Collins
requested exculpatory information obtained by the Subcommittee
pursuant to Committee Rule 21.11 On July 25, 1996, the
Subcommittee provided a letter to Representative Collins
containing certain exculpatory information.12 The
Subcommittee received a second request for exculpatory
information on August 6, 1996.13 Based on further evidence
obtained by the Subcommittee, the Subcommittee provided
additional exculpatory information to Representative Collins on
September 12, 1996.14
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ App. K.
\12\ App. L.
\13\ App. M.
\14\ App. N.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee twice invited Representative Collins to
submit information by testimony or in writing regarding the
allegations under investigation. On July 25, 1996, the
Subcommittee transmitted a letter to Representative Collins
pursuant to Committee Rule 17(a)(3), in which the Subcommittee
provided Representative Collins with extensive information that
it had obtained, and afforded her an opportunity to submit a
statement, orally or in writing, regarding the allegations and
any other relevant questions arising out of the
investigation.15 On August 26, 1996, counsel for
Representative Collins declined in writing to provide any
information under Committee Rule 17(a)(3).16 In addition,
counsel asked the Subcommittee to declare its investigation
moot because of Representative Collins' primary election defeat
on August 6, 1996. The Subcommittee denied counsel's request.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ App. O.
\16\ App. P.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On September 12, 1996, the Subcommittee voted to adopt a
Statement of Alleged Violation against Representative Collins,
consisting of eleven counts of alleged violations of law and
House rules.17 Consistent with Committee Rule 17(d),
members of the Subcommittee stressed that the Statement of
Alleged Violation manifested only a ``reason to believe'' that
Representative Collins committed violations within the
jurisdiction of the Committee, rather than a finding of guilt.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ App. Q.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On September 17, 1996, the Subcommittee transmitted the
Statement of Alleged Violation to Representative Collins, and
advised her of her right, under Committee Rule 18, to submit an
answer in writing and under oath.18 On October 2, 1996,
Representative Collins filed a motion for a bill of
particulars, in which she sought additional information
regarding various counts of the Statement of Alleged
Violation.19 The Subcommittee granted her motion in part
on October 7, 1996.20
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ App. R.
\19\ App. S.
\20\ App. T.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On October 24, 1996, Representative Collins, through her
counsel, formally declined to file an answer to the Statement
of Alleged Violation.21 Pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a),
the Investigative Subcommittee regarded Representative Collins'
failure to submit an answer as a denial of each count in the
Statement of Alleged Violation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ App. U.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On October 25, 1996, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the
Investigative Subcommittee transmitted the Statement of Alleged
Violation to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the
Committee pursuant to Committee Rule 18(g).22 In doing so,
the Investigative Subcommittee recommended that no adjudicative
subcommittee be established, and that no further action be
taken in this matter. The Subcommittee based its recommendation
on the fact that Representative Collins had lost her primary
election in August 1996, and that the Committee therefore would
lose its jurisdiction over her on January 3, 1997, before an
adjudicative proceeding could be completed. The Committee
subsequently approved the Subcommittee's recommendation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ App. V.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Relevant Standards of Conduct and Laws
At all times relevant to the violations hereafter alleged,
the pertinent provisions of House Rules and laws stated as
follows:
A. House Rule XLIII, Clause 1 (Code of Official Conduct)
``A Member, officer or employee of the House of
Representatives shall conduct himself at all times in a manner
which shall reflect creditably on the House of
Representatives.''
B. House Rule XLIII, Clause 6 (Code of Official Conduct)
``A Member of the House of Representatives shall keep his
campaign funds separate from his personal funds. A Member shall
convert no campaign funds to personal use in excess of
reimbursement for legitimate and verifiable campaign
expenditures and shall expend no funds from his campaign
account not attributable to bona fide campaign or political
purposes.''
C. House Rule XLIII, Clause 8 (Code of Official Conduct)
``A Member or officer of the House of Representatives shall
retain no one under his payroll authority who does not perform
official duties commensurate with the compensation received in
the offices of the employing authority.''
D. House Rule XLV
``No Member may maintain or have maintained for his use an
unofficial office account.'' According to the Committee's
interpretation of Rule 45, ``outside private donations, funds,
campaign contributions, or in-kind services may not be used to
support the activities of, or pay the expenses of, a
congressional office.'' 23 Private funds may be used
``only to support private or political, and not official,
activities.'' 24
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, House Ethics
Manual, 102d Cong., 2d Sess. 217 (1992) (hereafter House Ethics
Manual).
\24\ Id. at 218; see also id. at 221.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
E. 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1301(a)
``Appropriations shall be applied only to the objects for
which the appropriations were made except as otherwise provided
by law.''
F. Committee on House Administration, ``Congressional Handbook,''
Regulations for Allowances and Expenses of Members, Committees and
Employees (June 1993)
Salary adjustments of an employee of a Member ``should
reflect services performed during the particular pay period or
may reflect exceptional performance during the course of an
allowance year. Increases should be made only when the services
of the individual(s) warrant.'' (Page 7)
``Each Member is authorized an Official Expenses Allowance
to pay ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred by the
Member (and/or the Member's employees) . . . in support of the
conduct of the Member's official and representational duties to
the district from which he/she was elected. . . . This
allowance may not be used to defray any personal, political or
campaign related expenses . . . or expenses related to the
conduct of other than official and representational business.''
(Page 23)
``Each Member and his/her clerk-hire employees may be
reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in support of the
conduct of the Member's official and representational duties to
the district from which the Member was elected.'' (Page 36)
``Travel expenses incurred by someone other than the Member
or his/her employees are not payable from the Official Expenses
Allowance.'' (Page 36)
``Travel expenses incurred in support of the conduct of
personal, political, or campaign-related business . . . or in
support of the conduct of other than official and
representational business are not payable from the Official
Expenses Allowance.'' (Page 36)
G. Committee on House Oversight, ``Members' Congressional Handbook,''
Regulations Governing the Members' Representational Allowance of the
U.S. House of Representatives (1995)
``All Members have one `Members' Representational
Allowance' (MRA) available to support the conduct of official
and representational duties to the district from which elected.
. . . The MRA may not be used to pay for any personal,
political, campaign, or committee expenses.'' (Page 1)
(Emphasis in original)
``Members may adjust, in any month, a Clerk Hire employee's
salary to reflect exceptional, meritorious, or less than
satisfactory service.'' (Page 9)
``Travel expenses incurred by someone other than Members or
their Clerk Hire employees are not reimbursable from the MRA.''
(Page 46) (Emphasis in original)
H. Regulations Regarding Solicitation Promulgated by Committee on
Standards of Official Conduct
The House Ethics Manual states that ``Members, officers,
and employees of the House may solicit funds on behalf of
charitable organizations qualified under Sec. 170(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code, provided that no official resources are
used, no official endorsement is implied, and no direct
personal benefit results.
No solicitation may bear official letterhead, the Great
Seal, or the terms `Congress of the United States,' `House of
Representatives,' or `official business.' . . . Questions
regarding solicitations on behalf of entities that are not
charities qualified under Sec. 170(c) should be addressed to
the Committee.'' 25 That guidance is based on an October
9, 1990, memorandum from the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct to all Members, officers, and employees of the House of
Representatives. In addition to the guidance discussed above,
that memorandum states: ``The Committee will address on a case-
by-case basis the extent to which a Member, officer, or
employee may personally control the distribution of funds from
a charity for which he or she solicits funds.'' 26
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ House Ethics Manual, supra, at 51 (emphasis in original).
\26\ Id. at 65.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Results of Investigation
This section of the report presents detailed information
received by the Subcommittee during its investigation of
Representative Collins in the context of the individual counts
comprising the Statement of Alleged Violation. The section does
not reflect the totality of information received by the
Subcommittee during its investigation.
The Committee has placed primary emphasis on explaining the
evidentiary basis for the Statement of Alleged Violation. Where
appropriate, the Committee also has cited testimony or other
evidence that is contrary to the evidence relied on by the
Subcommittee in adopting a particular count, and evidence that
could be viewed as exculpatory.
A. Count I (Improper Campaign Activity by House Employees)
The Subcommittee obtained credible evidence that employees
of Representative Collins' congressional offices in Washington,
D.C. and Detroit provided extensive assistance to her campaign
organization in contravention of law and House rules, and that
such assistance occurred with the knowledge and approval of
Representative Collins. The campaign-related activities in
which congressional staff were improperly involved ranged from
day-to-day management of campaign finance operations to the
organization of campaign events, including fund-raising events.
1. Management of campaign finance operations
The Subcommittee received credible testimonial evidence
that campaign contribution checks routinely were brought into
Representative Collins' congressional office in Detroit.27
Sometimes, senior staff from the Washington, D.C. office, such
as Meredith Cooper, who served as Staff Director of the
Subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services and Chief of
Staff to Representative Collins in 1994 and 1995, brought
checks to the Detroit office if they were visiting the
district, and gave the checks to district office staff.28
More often, an employee in the Washington congressional office
(often Meredith Cooper) mailed campaign contributions checks
received in Washington to a post office box in Detroit
maintained by Representative Collins' campaign
committee.29
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ Deposition of Joyce Smith, Apr. 17, 1996, at 18 (hereafter
``Smith Dep.'').
\28\ Deposition of Edith Lee Payne, March 29, 1996, at 11
(hereafter ``Payne Dep.'').
\29\ Payne Dep. at 10-11; Smith Dep. at 20.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joyce Smith, who served as office manager in the Detroit
congressional office from approximately May 1994 to February
1995, testified that either she or another office employee,
Milton Harris, retrieved mail each morning from the campaign's
post office box, including campaign contribution checks.30
Ms. Smith's testimony was corroborated by Edith Lee Payne, who
served as liaison for community relations in the Detroit office
from March to August 1994.31 Ms. Payne testified that
Milton Harris regularly retrieved campaign contribution checks
and other mail from the campaign's post office box and brought
them to the congressional office.32
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\ Smith Dep. at 20.
\31\ Payne Dep. at 4.
\32\ Id. at 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milton Harris acknowledged that he retrieved mail from a
post office box and brought it to the congressional office,
although he testified he was unaware that the box was
maintained by Representative Collins' campaign.33 He also
testified that he opened mail from the post office box that
contained checks.34
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ Deposition of Milton Harris, May 1, 1996, at 10-11 (hereafter
``Harris Dep.'').
\34\ Id. at 12-13.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the district office received campaign contribution
checks, district office staff routinely performed various tasks
in the congressional office concerning the checks at times when
they should have been performing official duties.35 Edith
Lee Payne testified that it was her responsibility to ``log''
incoming checks, list them on a bank deposit slip, copy them,
and deposit them into the campaign's account at a bank in
Detroit.36 According to Ms. Payne, she was also
responsible for copying the bank deposit receipt and forwarding
that receipt and copies of contribution checks to Meredith
Cooper in Washington, D.C.37
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\35\ Payne Dep. at 7; Smith Dep. at 13.
\36\ Payne Dep. at 9-10, 19-20.
\37\ Id. at 10, 20.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Payne testified that Representative Collins personally
gave her instructions on how to make the deposits and what
follow-up actions to take. \38\ She also testified that she
performed the above-described tasks (with the exception of the
deposit itself) in the congressional office using office
equipment, and that she was not instructed to do otherwise.
\39\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\38\ Id. at 20.
\39\ Id. at 11.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Payne's testimony was corroborated in detail by Joyce
Smith, who testified that she performed the same tasks
regarding campaign contributions as those described above by
Ms. Payne.40 Ms. Smith also advised the Subcommittee that
District Director Jerry Springs sometimes personally
transmitted campaign contribution checks to her at the
congressional office and instructed her to process them.41
In addition, Ms. Smith advised the Subcommittee that she
sometimes told Mr. Springs during normal business hours that
she was leaving the congressional office to make a deposit on
behalf of the campaign, and that Mr. Springs did not ask her to
take leave for the time she was out of the office.42
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\40\ Smith Dep. at 18.
\41\ Committee Counsel interview with Joyce Smith, July 18, 1996
(hereafter ``Smith Int. I'').
\42\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Payne's version was partially corroborated by Priscilla
Waters, who worked as Executive Administrator in the district
office from August 1993 to approximately April 1994. Ms. Waters
advised Committee staff that she performed campaign bookkeeping
chores in the congressional office, but that she usually
performed such activities after business hours and on
weekends.43 Ms. Waters' account was corroborated by a
March 10, 1994, campaign check made payable to her in the
amount of $16.63 for a ``log--campaign finance,'' co-signed by
Representative Collins and her daughter, campaign treasurer
Cynthia Simpson.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\43\ Committee Counsel interview with Priscilla Waters, July 12,
1996 (hereafter ``Waters Int.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Testimony by district congressional staff regarding the
deposit of campaign contribution checks also was corroborated
by a document captioned ``Job Duties,'' which Ms. Smith
provided to the Subcommittee. That document, which Ms. Smith
received from Ms. Payne,44 consists of a typed list of job
responsibilities, including duties expressly characterized as
``[c]ampaign-related.'' The ``deposit of checks'' is the first
item specified in the list of campaign-related duties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\44\ Smith Dep. at 12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congressional staff also paid the campaign's bills. Bank
documents show that Joyce Smith was authorized to sign checks
drawn on the account of Friends of Barbara-Rose Collins.45
Ms. Smith testified that she routinely wrote campaign checks in
the congressional office in payment of the campaign's utility
bills and other expenses.46 She also testified that she
reconciled the campaign bank account in the congressional
office and mailed checks to payees.47
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\45\ Smith Dep. at 17.
\46\ Id. at 13.
\47\ Id. at 11-12, 16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee obtained credible evidence that the
issuance of campaign checks by congressional staff from the
congressional office, during official business hours, occurred
with the knowledge and approval of Representative Collins.
First, the evidence indicates that Representative Collins
personally exercised oversight over the expenditure of funds
from her campaign's bank account. According to Valerie Nicholas
and Gloria Dorsey, former staff in the Washington, D.C.
congressional office, Representative Collins kept a campaign
checkbook in the desk of her private office in
Washington.48 Representative Collins was among several
authorized signers of campaign checks,49 and copies of
canceled campaign checks obtained from Comerica Bank in Detroit
indicate that she signed numerous checks drawn on the
campaign's account.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\48\ Deposition of Valerie Nicholas, March 29, 1996, at 32-33, 51
(hereafter ``Nicholas Dep.''); Deposition of Gloria Dorsey, Apr. 16,
1996, at 16 (hereafter ``Dorsey Dep.'').
\49\ Smith Dep. at 17-18.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under the terms of the campaign's account at Comerica Bank,
two signatures were required to issue a campaign check.50
After Joyce Smith began writing campaign checks in Detroit, the
Washington congressional office sometimes sent checks to the
Detroit office that Representative Collins had pre-signed for a
second signature by Ms. Smith.51 According to Ms. Smith,
the Washington office also sometimes sent blank campaign checks
for her to sign and send back to the Washington office, usually
by Federal Express shipments charged to the account of the
congressional office.52 In some instances, Representative
Collins personally telephoned Ms. Smith and asked her to sign
blank campaign checks and return them by Federal Express to the
Washington office.53
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\50\ Smith Dep. at 17-18.
\51\ Smith Dep. at 17; Smith Int. I.
\52\ Smith Int. I.
\53\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joyce Smith testified that Representative Collins sometimes
personally directed her to sign campaign checks at times when
she otherwise would have been performing official
duties.54 At other times, Meredith Cooper or District
Director Jerry Springs (Ms. Smith's immediate supervisor) so
instructed her.55 In addition, Ms. Smith advised the
Subcommittee that Representative Collins personally made it
clear to her that she was responsible for performing
bookkeeping functions for the campaign account.56 At no
time, according to Ms. Smith, did Representative Collins
indicate to her that she should take leave to perform such
duties or perform them on her own time.57
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\54\ Smith Dep. at 13, 15-16.
\55\ Id. at 13.
\56\ Smith Int. I.
\57\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
District Director Jerry Springs provided testimony at odds
with the testimony of Joyce Smith and Edith Lee Payne.
Initially, Mr. Springs denied any knowledge of campaign
contributions coming into the congressional office.58
Subsequently, he testified that checks came into the
congressional office ``on occasion,'' but said that the
district office either returned those checks to the sender with
a request to send them to the campaign office, or forwarded
them immediately to the campaign treasurer.59 Mr. Springs
denied any knowledge that district office staff performed
campaign bookkeeping tasks in the congressional office60
or mailed campaign contribution checks to the Washington
congressional office.61 He also denied instructing staff
to make disbursements on behalf of the campaign.62
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\58\ Deposition of Jerry Springs, May 1, 1996, at 23-25 (hereafter
``Springs Dep. I'').
\59\ Deposition of Jerry Springs, Aug. 1, 1996, at 101 (hereafter
``Springs Dep. II'').
\60\ Springs Dep. I at 26-27; Springs Dep. II at 102-03.
\61\ Springs Dep. I at 28; Springs Dep. II at 105.
\62\ Springs Dep. I at 46; Springs Dep. II at 106.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Springs' testimony also was inconsistent with a
document that he himself created.63 That document consists
of a memorandum on Representative Collins' official stationery
dated January 24, 1995, from ``Jerry Springs, District
Director'' to ``Joyce Smith, Office Manager,'' regarding
``Preliminary Performance Assessment.'' 64 Mr. Springs
produced two versions of the memorandum, each bearing the date
of January 24, 1995.65 The first version of the memorandum
began as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\63\ Springs Dep. II at 119.
\64\ Id.
\65\ Id. at 125.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This memorandum serves notice that your performance
has been under review and deemed unsatisfactory at this
stage of your tenure.
Several recent incidences have ocurred [sic] under
your direct involvement that created confusion and/or a
negative reflection of the Congresswoman. Specifically,
those incidences were as follows:
A. Mishandling of the Friend's account that
resulted in incomplete transaction entries and
balances of the account: there was absolutely
no follow-up on what was started on December
23, 1995 and no communications with the
Congresswoman as to when the assignment would
be completed. [Emphasis added.] As of today,
those transactions are still incomplete.
B. Improper documentation and mailing of a
$2,500.00 check.
The memorandum proceeded to criticize Ms. Smith for also
allegedly committing scheduling errors and taking unapproved
leave from the office. Mr. Springs concluded the memorandum by
stating:
As a result of the above recent incidences, I am
placing your appointment on a 60 day probationary
status. This will give you ample time to demonstrate a
willingness and a commitment to fulfill your duties as
an appointee to the 15th Congressional district office.
[Emphasis added.] I am more than willing to work with
you in any and all areas needing improvement.
Mr. Springs subsequently revised the memorandum. In the
second version, he deleted Paragraph B, which referred to the
``[i]mproper documentation and mailing of a $2,500.00 check.''
Mr. Springs claimed that the document's references to errors in
the performance of campaign tasks by Ms. Smith related to
``volunteer'' work that she was performing for the
campaign,66 and he denied that Ms. Smith was expected to
perform those tasks as part of her congressional duties.67
He explained that he deleted mention of the $2,500.00 check
because he had concluded it was inappropriate to cite the
handling of that check in an official performance
assessment.68
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\66\ Springs Dep. II at 113, 124.
\67\ Id. at 114-15, 122-24.
\68\ Id. at 127.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Organization of campaign events
The Subcommittee obtained credible evidence that
congressional staff helped to organize and prepare for
campaign-related events in violation of House rules. Edith Lee
Payne and Joyce Smith testified that they devoted substantial
time in the Detroit congressional office to coordinating mass
mailings consisting of fund-raising solicitations, at times
when they otherwise would have been performing official
duties.69 In one case concerning a fund-raising event held
at Halloween, Ms. Smith and other district office staff
prepared a campaign mailing to approximately 2,300 persons
using office equipment and other official resources.70
According to Ms. Smith, the campaign letterhead used for that
mailing consisted of stationery that had been created on the
district office computer.71 Ms. Smith also recalled that
Jerry Springs instructed office staff to assemble the mailing,
and that he personally participated in the project.72
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\69\ Smith Dep. at 6-7; Payne Dep. at 18.
\70\ Smith Dep. at 6, 11.
\71\ Id. at 7, 11.
\72\ Id. at 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In another example, several district office staff were
instructed to report to the new campaign headquarters of
Representative Collins during normal business hours to prepare
for a picnic.73 Ms. Payne and Ms. Smith testified that
male staff were required to paint the facility, install ceiling
fans, and cut the grass, while female staff were required to
prepare food.74 Ms. Payne recalled that these instructions
came from District Office Director Jerry Springs,75 while
Ms. Smith testified her instructions came from Meredith
Cooper.76
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\73\ Payne Dep. at 23-24.
\74\ Payne Dep. at 23; Smith Dep. at 5.
\75\ Payne Dep. at 24.
\76\ Smith Dep. at 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a third example, Representative Collins and Meredith
Cooper directed the Washington office manager, Valerie
Nicholas, to accompany Ms. Cooper to Detroit to staff a fund-
raising event in mid-1994.77 Ms. Nicholas testified that
she and members of the district office staff distributed
identification to invitees when they arrived and performed
other administrative functions.78 Ms. Nicholas also
recalled being directed to coordinate and staff other fund-
raising events in Washington, D.C. during normal business
hours.79
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\77\ Nicholas Dep. at 82-83.
\78\ Id. at 83.
\79\ Id. at 86.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Count II (Use of Official Funds for Campaign Purposes)
The Subcommittee obtained credible evidence that the office
of Representative Collins used funds of the House of
Representatives for campaign-related purposes in 1995. The
record indicates that on or about April 4, 1995, District
Director Jerry Springs traveled from Detroit to Washington. A
hotel bill from the Best Western Skyline Hotel in Washington,
D.C. shows that Mr. Springs and one other person (later learned
to be Korey Hall, another employee of the Detroit district
office 80) checked into the hotel on the night of April 4,
1995, and incurred $200.61 in charges. A monthly statement for
Representative Collins' government American Express card, dated
April 26, 1995, shows that the government card was used on
April 6, 1995, to pay the hotel bill, and Representative
Collins' office submitted a voucher to the House of
Representatives, dated April 3, 1995, seeking reimbursement of
$200.61 for Mr. Springs' stay at the hotel for ``official
business.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\80\ Springs Dep. II at 85-86.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee obtained credible evidence that
Representative Collins signed and approved that voucher. The
signature ``Barbara-Rose Collins'' appears at the bottom of the
voucher in the space designated for the Member's signature, and
that signature corresponds to the signature appearing on checks
drawn on Representative Collins' personal bank account. In
addition, two members of her staff who were responsible for
preparing vouchers testified that Representative Collins
personally signed vouchers.81 Jerry Springs testified that
he recognized the signature on the voucher regarding his April
1995 trip to Washington as the signature of Representative
Collins.82
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\81\ Nicholas Dep. at 6; Dorsey Dep. at 6-7.
\82\ Springs Dep. II at 94.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee obtained evidence that Mr. Springs' visit
to Washington in April 1995 coincided with a fund-raising event
in Washington held on behalf of Representative Collins'
campaign. On the night of April 5, 1995, Friends of Barbara-
Rose Collins sponsored an event at a Washington, D.C. hotel
described on the invitation as the ``4th Annual Straight From
the Soul Food Feast honoring Congresswoman Barbara-Rose
Collins.'' The invitation indicated that campaign contributions
were solicited in connection with the event.
Mr. Springs acknowledged that he attended the event and
that the event was a fundraiser,83 but he testified that
he did not know the event was campaign-related until his
arrival at the event.84 He also said that his principal
reason for coming to Washington was to meet with Meredith
Cooper to provide an update on activities in the district
office, including casework matters.85
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\83\ Id.at 79-82.
\84\ Id.at 80-81.
\85\ Id.at 82-83, 96-97.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee determined that the record as a whole
supports a finding that Mr. Springs came to Washington
primarily to attend the campaign event on April 5, 1996. Mr.
Springs' hotel bill indicates that he checked into the hotel at
6:47 p.m. on April 4, 1996, and checked out at 7:16 a.m. on
April 6. Thus, the only full day that he spent in Washington
was April 5, the day of the campaign event, and he left early
in the morning after the event. In addition, as discussed above
regarding Count I, the Subcommittee obtained substantial
evidence that Mr. Springs was involved in campaign-related
activities.
The Subcommittee also obtained evidence of additional
misuse of official funds in connection with the above-
referenced campaign event held in Washington on April 5, 1995.
In that regard, the Subcommittee investigated published
allegations that Representative Collins' office submitted a
fraudulent voucher to the House of Representatives in
connection with that campaign event.86 Specifically, the
Subcommittee investigated allegations that Leon Robinson,
reportedly a personal friend of Representative Collins',87
used an airline ticket purchased in the name of district office
employee Milton Harris to travel from Detroit to Washington to
attend the campaign event.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\86\ Pekkanen, ``Rep. B. Collins Used Congressional Credit Card to
Fly Personal Friend from Detroit to D.C.,'' The Hill, Feb. 21, 1996, at
4.
\87\ Committee Counsel interview with Michael McQuerry, Feb. 21,
1996 (hereafter ``McQuerry Int. I'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evidence obtained by the Subcommittee corroborated the
published allegations. Copies of a Northwest Airlines ticket
and related purchase forms provided to the Subcommittee by the
House Office of Finance indicate that the congressional office
of Representative Collins, using the office's government
American Express card, purchased a $436.00 round-trip airline
ticket in the name of district office employee Milton Harris on
or about April 5, 1995. The ticket indicates that Mr. Harris
was scheduled to fly from Detroit to Washington on April 5,
1995--the day on which the fund-raising event was held in
Washington--and return to Detroit on April 6. Correspondingly,
the congressional office of Representative Collins submitted a
voucher to the House of Representatives seeking reimbursement
in the amount of $436.00 for round-trip air travel by Milton
Harris from Detroit to Washington, D.C. during the period of
April 5-6, 1995. The voucher, which appears to bear the true
signature of Representative Collins, is dated May 22, 1995
(i.e., after the campaign event), and identified the purpose of
Mr. Harris' travel as ``official business.''
Both Jerry Springs and Michael McQuerry, a former employee
in Representative Collins' Washington office, confirmed that
Leon Robinson attended the April 5, 1995, campaign event in
Washington.88 Mr. McQuerry, who was working in the
Washington congressional office during the relevant time
period, told Committee staff that Mr. Harris did not come to
Washington for the April 5, 1995, campaign event.89 Mr.
McQuerry's recollection is corroborated by the fact that no
voucher was submitted for lodging or other expenses for Mr.
Harris, whereas the round-trip airline ticket purchased in Mr.
Harris' name indicated that he would be staying overnight in
Washington on April 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\88\ Springs Dep. II at 99; McQuerry Int. I; Committee Counsel
interview with Michael McQuerry, July 24, 1996 (hereafter ``McQuerry
Int. II'').
\89\ McQuerry Int. I; McQuerry Int. II.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee obtained credible information that
Meredith Cooper knew the office was submitting a false voucher
to the House Office of Finance regarding Mr. Harris' purported
air travel to Washington. Mr. McQuerry advised Committee staff
that another employee in the Washington office, Anthony Martin,
told him during the vouchering process that Mr. Robinson had
used the ticket purchased in Mr. Harris's name.90
According to Mr. McQuerry, Mr. Martin advised him that Chief of
Staff Meredith Cooper had instructed Mr. Martin to process a
voucher regarding an airline ticket for Mr. Harris despite the
fact that Mr. Robinson, rather than Mr. Harris, had used the
ticket.91 Mr. McQuerry also identified the signature
``Barbara-Rose Collins'' on the airline ticket purchase form as
the handwriting of Meredith Cooper. Finally, testimony from
former congressional staff indicates that Representative
Collins shared a close personal and professional relationship
with Meredith Cooper.92 Ms. Cooper corroborated that
description of the relationship to some extent by testifying
that she had daily face-to-face contact with Representative
Collins.93
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\90\ McQuerry Int. II.
\91\ Id.
\92\ Nicholas Dep. at 7, 9, 34, 44; Dorsey Dep. at 57; Deposition
of Miniard Culpepper, March 27, 1996, at 42 (hereafter ``Culpepper
Dep.''); Committee Counsel interview with Lillian German, March 25,
1996 (hereafter ``German Int.'').
\93\ Deposition of Meredith Cooper, June 25, 1996, at 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the foregoing, and particularly because
Representative Collins apparently signed the vouchers in
question, the Subcommittee found reason to believe that
Representative Collins knew that official funds were used to
pay for Mr. Springs' lodging to attend the campaign event in
Washington, D.C. on April 5, 1995. The Subcommittee also found
reason to believe that Representative Collins knew that
official funds were used to pay for the travel of Leon Robinson
to attend the same campaign event, and that Mr. Harris did not
attend that event.
c. count iii (performance of personal services by house employees)
The Subcommittee obtained substantial credible evidence
that members of Representative Collins' congressional staff
routinely performed personal services for Representative
Collins at times when they should have been performing official
duties, with the knowledge and approval of Representative
Collins.
1. Payment of personal bills
Valerie Nicholas and Gloria Dorsey provided credible
testimony that they paid Representative Collins' personal bills
in the Washington congressional office at times when they
otherwise would have been performing official duties.94
Ms. Nicholas, who worked in Representative Collins' office from
June 1994 until March 1995, testified that she inherited the
bill-paying function from another district office employee in
the summer of 1994 and paid at least ten bills each
month.95 She told the Subcommittee that some personal
bills were mailed to Representative Collins' home in Virginia,
while others were mailed directly to the congressional
office.96 Ms. Nicholas testified that Representative
Collins brought personal bills to the office that she had
received at home and gave them directly to Ms. Nicholas.97
To facilitate Ms. Nicholas' preparation of checks,
Representative Collins provided Ms. Nicholas with her personal
checkbook from the Wright Patman Federal Congressional Credit
Union (``Credit Union'') in Washington, D.C.98 Ms.
Nicholas wrote out the checks, gave them to Representative
Collins to sign, and mailed them.99 According to Ms.
Nicholas, at no time did Representative Collins or Meredith
Cooper discuss with her whether it was appropriate to pay the
personal bills in the congressional office, or at times when
she should be performing official duties.100
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\94\ Dorsey Dep. at 9-12, 52, 55-56; Nicholas Dep. at 6, 8-15.
\95\ Nicholas Dep. at 8, 12-13.
\96\ Id. at 10.
\97\ Id. at 9-10.
\98\ Id. at 10.
\99\ Id. at 10-11.
\100\ Id. at 13-14.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Nicholas' testimony was corroborated by Gloria Dorsey,
who began working for Representative Collins in the Washington
office in May 1995. Ms. Dorsey recalled that she began paying
Representative Collins' personal bills in the fall of 1995
after she became the office manager, and that Meredith Cooper
told her she would be responsible for that function.101
According to Ms. Dorsey, she was never given the option of
paying Representative Collins' personal bills on her own
private time.102
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\101\ Dorsey Dep. at 9, 11.
\102\ Id. at 56.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Dorsey testified that she sometimes consulted
Representative Collins directly if she was uncertain about
whether to pay a given bill or the amount of money to
remit.103 She also testified that Representative Collins
personally signed the checks she had prepared, sometimes in her
presence.104
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\103\ Id. at 11, 13.
\104\ Id. at 12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Retrieval of personal mail
Priscilla Waters, the former Executive Administrator in the
Detroit congressional office, told Committee staff that she was
in possession of the keys to Representative Collins' personal
mailbox in Detroit.105 She recalled that, at the request
of Administrative Assistant Miniard Culpepper, she retrieved
personal mail from Representative Collins' mailbox every few
days.106
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\105\ Waters Int.
\106\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Cleaning Representative Collins' home
Valerie Nicholas testified that Representative Collins
personally directed her to clean Representative Collins' home
in the Washington area, and specified the particular
housecleaning tasks that Ms. Nicholas should perform.107
Representative Collins personally paid Ms. Nicholas $50.00 in
cash to clean her home.108
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\107\ Nicholas Dep. at 15-17.
\108\ Id. at 18-19.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Nicholas testified that she regularly went to
Representative Collins' home and ``would clean her bathrooms,
her toilets, vacuum her floors, water her plants, wash her
clothes, make up her bed, change her linen . . . [and]
straighten her closets out.'' 109 Miniard Culpepper, a
senior employee of the Washington office, testified that he
sometimes brought cleaning supplies to Representative Collins'
home and saw Ms. Nicholas in the midst of her cleaning
duties.110
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\109\ Id. at 16.
\110\ Culpepper Dep. at 22-23.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Nicholas told the Subcommittee that Representative
Collins did not specify a particular time when Ms. Nicholas
should clean her home.111 She recalled, however, that she
cleaned the home on weekdays when she otherwise would have been
at the congressional office performing official duties, and
that Representative Collins sometimes instructed her to leave
the office to clean Representative Collins' home.112 In
contrast, Mr. Culpepper told the Subcommittee that on the
occasions he saw Ms. Nicholas at Representative Collins' home,
it was usually in the evening.113
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\111\ Nicholas Dep. at 17.
\112\ Id. at 18.
\113\ Culpepper Dep. at 23.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Nicholas indicated that it took several hours to clean
Representative Collins' home, and testified that on some
occasions she did not return to the office after concluding her
cleaning duties.114 At no time did Representative Collins
ask Ms. Nicholas to take leave for the time she was out of the
office.115
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\114\ Nicholas Dep. at 18.
\115\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Liaison with vendors
Priscilla Waters told Committee staff that she served as a
point of contact with vendors or service-providers concerning
Representative Collins' personal affairs in Detroit, including
an interior decorator working on Representative Collins'
residence.116 Ms. Waters had received keys to
Representative Collins' residence from either Representative
Collins or Chief of Staff Miniard Culpepper, and she also went
to Representative Collins' home to admit the interior decorator
or persons making deliveries.117
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\116\ Waters Int.
\117\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Waters' account was corroborated by a typed document
captioned ``Job Duties,'' which the Subcommittee obtained from
Joyce Smith. One category of duties listed on that document is
characterized as ``BRC Personal,'' and consists of ``liason
[sic] with vendors for her personal accounts, anything related
to her apartment (maintenance of her keys).''
5. Miscellaneous personal services
The Subcommittee also obtained credible testimony that
Representative Collins knowingly misused congressional staff in
other ways. In one particularly vivid account, Valerie Nicholas
testified that Meredith Cooper once directed her to curl
Representative Collins' hair.118 Ms. Nicholas recalled
that this conversation occurred in Representative Collins'
private congressional office and in her presence.119 She
also recalled that Ms. Cooper threatened to fire her if she
``burned'' Representative Collins' hair.120
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\118\ Nicholas Dep. at 21-22.
\119\ Id. at 21.
\120\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Nicholas also testified that, at Representative
Collins' request, she made shopping trips on behalf of
Representative Collins, such as visits to department stores,
grocery stores, and furniture stores to pick up items for
Representative Collins.121 Ms. Nicholas advised the
Subcommittee that she made these shopping expeditions
``[d]uring work hours.'' 122
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\121\ Id. at 23-24.
\122\ Id. at 24.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
d. count iv (improper use of vouchered postage stamps)
According to data compiled by the Clerk of the House, the
office of Representative Collins purchased a total of
approximately 7,900 first-class postage stamps with official
funds during calendar years 1994 and 1995, at a total cost of
approximately $2,380.00.123 According to the Clerk's
records, and to copies of corresponding vouchers,
Representative Collins' office almost always made these
purchases in amounts of 500 stamps. Based on testimonial
evidence obtained by the Subcommittee, Representative Collins
signed most of the vouchers submitted for the purchase of
postage stamps.124
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\123\ The data was published in quarterly Reports of the Clerk of
the House of Representatives for expenditures occurring in 1994 and
1995.
\124\ Dorsey Dep. at 6-7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Valerie Nicholas testified that, at the direction of
Meredith Cooper, she prepared vouchers each month to purchase
500 stamps.125 As evidenced by the vouchers and by her own
testimony, Ms. Nicholas often personally submitted these
vouchers to the Office of Finance.126 She retained 250
stamps from each purchase in the Washington congressional
office, and mailed the remaining 250 stamps to the Detroit
congressional office.127
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\125\ Nicholas Dep. at 12, 27; see Dorsey Dep. at 4-6.
\126\ Nicholas Dep. at 53.
\127\ Id. at 12, 27; see Smith Dep. at 8; Dorsey Dep. at 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congressional staff in the Washington office who prepared
payments for Representative Collins' personal bills routinely
used postage stamps purchased with official funds to mail those
bills.128 Gloria Dorsey testified that Meredith Cooper
directed her to use first-class postage stamps in the
congressional office to pay Representative Collins' personal
bills.129 Although Ms. Dorsey was uncertain about the
origin of some of the stamps she used to pay the personal
bills, she acknowledged that she personally purchased 500
first-class postage stamps with vouchered funds on one
occasion.130 In addition, former office manager Valerie
Nicholas testified that, to her knowledge, there were no
postage stamps in the congressional office other than the
stamps purchased with official funds.131 Ms. Nicholas also
testified that Representative Collins never gave her stamps to
use to pay Representative Collins' personal bills, or gave her
money to buy stamps for that purpose.132
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\128\ Nicholas Dep. at 11-12, 27; Dorsey Dep. at 13-14.
\129\ Dorsey Dep. at 14.
\130\ Id. at 4-5.
\131\ Nicholas Dep. at 41.
\132\ Id. at 55-56.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to using vouchered stamps to pay Representative
Collins' personal bills, congressional staff used them for
other non-official purposes. Valerie Nicholas and Joyce Smith,
who worked in the Detroit congressional office, each testified
that they used vouchered stamps for mailings related to
campaign fund-raising events.133 Ms. Nicholas also advised
the Subcommittee that, with the knowledge of Meredith Cooper,
she used vouchered stamps to send a letter in 1994 soliciting
contributions to the Collins Congressional Community
Scholarship Committee in connection with the ``Michigan Bash,''
a party sponsored by Representative Collins in connection with
an annual conference held by the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation.134
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\133\ Id. at 12, 27; Smith Dep. at 8.
\134\ Nicholas Dep. at 40.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
E. Count V (Use of Official Funds for Personal Purposes)
The Subcommittee obtained documentary evidence that the
office of Representative Collins expended official funds to
send items by overnight mail relating to Representative
Collins' personal affairs. Vouchers obtained from the Office of
Finance, supplemented by attached invoices, show that the
congressional offices in Detroit and Washington used official
funds to pay for Federal Express shipments of items on several
occasions in 1994 and 1995 to Rose Reiter, a jewelry store in
New York City. In addition, documents obtained from the Office
of Finance indicate that Representative Collins' congressional
office in Washington vouchered the cost of a Federal Express
shipment in March 1994 to send something to Dwayne Porter in
Detroit.
The Subcommittee's determination that such expenses were
personal in nature was corroborated by checks drawn on
Representative Collins' personal account at the Credit Union
that were payable to Rose Reiter and Dwayne Porter. Priscilla
Waters, who formerly worked in the Detroit district office,
told Committee staff that she sometimes admitted an interior
decorator by the name of Dwayne Porter into Representative
Collins' apartment.135
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\135\ Waters Int.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Documents obtained by the Subcommittee indicate that the
office of Representative Collins used Federal Express to remit
payments or make deposits for personal items purchased by
Representative Collins. For example, on approximately November
2, 1994, Representative Collins issued a check to ``Rose Reiter
Jewelry, Inc.'' in the amount of $2,000.00 for ``Deposit.'' A
Federal Express invoice indicates that the Detroit
congressional office sent an item by Federal Express to Rose
Reiter on November 3, 1994. On approximately November 21, 1994,
Representative Collins issued a personal check to Rose Reiter
Jewelry in the amount of $1,000.00. A Federal Express invoice
indicates that on the same day, Valerie Nicholas sent an item
by Federal Express from the Washington congressional office to
Rose Reiter. In both cases, the congressional office
subsequently vouchered the cost of the Federal Express
shipment.
Similarly, Representative Collins issued a personal check
in the amount of $300.00 to Dwayne Porter dated March 24, 1994,
characterized on the check as ``Deposit.'' A Federal Express
invoice indicates that on March 23, 1994, Representative
Collins' congressional office in Washington sent something to
Dwayne Porter in Detroit.
F. Count VI (Commingling and Conversion of Campaign Resources)
1. Checks issued by campaign committee
Bank documents show that, on or about June 30, 1994,
Representative Collins' campaign committee issued a check in
the amount of $3,911.00 payable to ``Barbara-Rose Collins,''
for the stated purpose of ``Reimbursement.'' That check
corresponds to a July 15, 1994, filing with the Federal
Election Commission (``FEC'') by Friends of Barbara-Rose
Collins, which reported a disbursement on June 30, 1994, of
$3,911.00 to Barbara-Rose Collins for ``Reimbursement for
Precinct Delegate Picnic Catering.'' Representative Collins
subsequently endorsed that check, and records obtained from the
Credit Union show that the amount of $3,911.00 was deposited
into her personal checking account at the Credit Union on July
1, 1994.
Irregularities in the campaign's financial bookkeeping
contributed to the Subcommittee's concern about this particular
campaign disbursement. The check stub corresponding to the
check issued to Representative Collins shows a payment of
$3,911.00 to district office employee George Stanton, not
Representative Collins, for ``precinct delegate picnic
catering.''
Approximately one month later, a similar sequence of events
occurred. On or about August 3, 1994, the Collins campaign
issued a check in the amount of $2,900.00 payable to ``Cash''
for various ``Fundraisers'' and the ``NAACP.'' That check bears
the endorsement of ``Barbara-Rose Collins,'' and records
obtained from the Credit Union show that a check in the amount
of $2,900.00 was deposited into Representative Collins'
personal checking account at the Credit Union on August 5,
1994. The corresponding check stub simply repeats the
information contained on the check itself, and the pertinent
FEC filing states only that the disbursement was made to the
``NAACP'' (and no other recipients) for ``fundraisers.''
2. Funds derived from campaign resources
The Subcommittee obtained credible evidence that
Representative Collins improperly converted campaign funds to
personal use with respect to two cashier's checks.
a. Cashier's check for $8,500.00
Bank records indicate that on or about November 8, 1994,
the Collins campaign issued a check in the amount of $8,500.00
to District Director Jerry Springs for ``election day
expenses.'' The check was co-signed by Representative Collins
and Joyce Smith and was endorsed by Jerry Springs. According to
documentary evidence and other information obtained from
Comerica Bank in Detroit, Mr. Springs cashed the check on the
same day, November 8.
Mr. Springs testified that he received a campaign check in
the amount of $8,500.00 from campaign treasurer Cynthia
Simpson, and that he cashed the check.136 According to Mr.
Springs, he and Ms. Simpson used the cash proceeds to pay poll
workers on the day of the general election, to provide
transportation to the polls for constituents, and to purchase
refreshments.137 Mr. Springs also stated his belief that
he and Ms. Simpson disbursed the entirety of the $8,500.00 in
cash, and that the disbursements were made on November 8, 1994,
the day of the election.138
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\136\ Springs Dep. I at 59-60; Springs Dep. II at 4-5, 7.
\137\ Springs Dep. I at 60-61; Springs Dep. II at 5, 31.
\138\ Springs Dep. I at 61-62.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Springs' testimony was inconsistent with other evidence
obtained by the Subcommittee. Bank documents and sworn
testimony by a knowledgeable bank official indicate that Mr.
Springs purchased a cashier's check payable to Barbara-Rose
Collins in the amount of $8,500.00 from Comerica Bank in
Detroit on or about November 14, 1994, six days after the
campaign check in the same amount was issued.139 The
record also indicates that Mr. Springs used cash to purchase
that cashier's check.140 On or about November 15, 1994--
one day after the cashier's check was purchased--the same
cashier's check purchased by Mr. Springs was deposited into
Representative Collins' personal checking account at the Credit
Union, according to Credit Union records and testimony by an
official associated with Comerica Bank in Detroit, which issued
the cashier's check.141
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\139\ Affidavit of Nancy Asaro, Internal Services Dept., Comerica
Inc. para.para. 8, 12, 14, 17, 22 (hereafter ``Asaro Aff.'').
\140\ Id. para.para. 11-12, 14.
\141\ Id. para.para. 15-21.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Springs denied any knowledge that proceeds from the
$8,500.00 campaign check issued to him inured to the personal
benefit of Representative Collins.142 After being shown a
copy of the cashier's check in question, he also denied any
knowledge of any connection between the $8,500.00 cashier's
check payable to Representative Collins and the $8,500.00
campaign disbursement that he received.143
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\142\ Springs Dep. I at 146; Springs Dep. II at 29-30.
\143\ Springs Dep. I at 64; Springs Dep. II at 8-9, 11.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bank records reflect a difference between the serial number
of the cashier's check and the serial numbers of the
corresponding check purchase form and another related bank
document. Specifically, the serial number printed on the
cashier's check ends in ``55-1,'' whereas the serial number
handwritten on the check purchase form and the other bank
document ends in ``56-0.'' 144 After reviewing the bank
records in question, a Comerica Bank official informed the
Subcommittee that she had determined the discrepancy was
apparently due to human error in recording the serial number,
and that she was convinced the check purchase form signed by
Mr. Springs was used to purchase the cashier's check in the
amount of $8,500.00.145
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\144\ Asaro Aff. para.para. 15-16.
\145\ Id. para.para. 17-21.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, Committee staff were advised by Joyce Smith,
who was working on election day in 1994, that Mr. Springs was
in possession of envelopes at the district office on election
day that contained cash to pay poll workers.146 Ms. Smith
told Committee staff that she distributed three or four
envelopes to poll workers containing mostly amounts between
$10.00 and $40.00, although she recalled that one or two
envelopes contained $100.00.147
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\146\ Smith Int. I.
\147\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While Mr. Springs denied any connection between the
campaign check and the cashier's check, and Ms. Smith
corroborated Mr. Springs' testimony that cash payments were
made to poll workers on election day in 1994, the Subcommittee
nonetheless found reason to believe that Representative Collins
converted $8,500.00 in campaign funds to her personal use. The
Subcommittee based that finding on the identical amount of the
two checks and the proximity in time between the campaign's
disbursement of the check to Mr. Springs and the deposit of
$8,500.00 into Representative Collins' personal account.
b. Cashier's check for $2,400.00
On or about March 6, 1995, the Collins campaign issued a
check payable to ``Comerica'' in the amount of $2,400.00. That
check was co-signed by Representative Collins and Joyce Smith,
and was endorsed by Representative Collins. The check contains
no annotation regarding its purpose, and the corresponding stub
in the check register is blank. On the same day, Comerica Bank
in Detroit issued a cashier's check payable to Barbara-Rose
Collins in the amount of $2,400.00. On or about March 9, 1995,
that cashier's check was deposited into Representative Collins'
personal checking account at the Credit Union.
Filings with the FEC by the Collins campaign dated
September 25, 1995, and January 8, 1996, reported a
disbursement of $2,400.00 on March 6, 1995, to ``E & H Printing
Services'' in Detroit for printing services concerning a fund-
raising event. The campaign check register, however, does not
reflect any campaign checks issued to E & H Printing on March
6, 1995. Neither campaign financial records nor records
concerning Representative Collins' personal checking account at
the Credit Union indicate that Representative Collins paid
$2,400.00 to E & H Printing on behalf of the campaign, or that
she subsequently sought or obtained reimbursement for such an
expenditure.
3. Purchase of personal appliances
Documentary evidence and specific information from a
credible source indicate that Representative Collins used
campaign funds to purchase personal appliances in August 1995.
A salesman at ABC Warehouse in Southfield, Michigan told
Committee staff that Barbara-Rose Collins personally came to
the store on or around August 7, 1995, and, by means of a
check, purchased a freezer, electric clothes dryer, and
oven.148 According to the salesman, Representative Collins
asked that the oven and dryer be delivered to her ``cottage''
at Shay Lake, Michigan. Subsequently, she personally telephoned
the salesman and gave him the street address of her home at
Shay Lake.149
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\148\ Committee Counsel interviews with Darnell Castelow, ABC
Warehouse, Inc., July 17, 1996, and Sept. 11, 1996.
\149\ Committee Counsel interview with Darnell Castelow, July 17,
1996.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The salesman advised Committee staff that he subsequently
learned that Representative Collins' home at Shay Lake was
outside of the delivery range of ABC Warehouse, and that he so
advised an employee of Representative Collins' congressional
office in Detroit by telephone.150 That employee advised
the salesman that someone from the congressional office would
pick up the appliances and transport them to Representative
Collins' home at Shay Lake.151 Accordingly, the salesman
revised the store invoice to indicate that the customer would
pick up the appliances from the store. Subsequently, two men
came to the ABC Warehouse location in Southfield to confirm
arrangements to pick up the merchandise purchased by
Representative Collins.152 According to the salesman, one
of the men signed a form and then departed with the other man
in a truck, bound for the ABC Warehouse location in Pontiac
where the merchandise was located.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\150\ Id.
\151\ Id.
\152\ Committee Counsel interviews with Darnell Castelow, ABC
Warehouse, Inc., July 17, 1996, and Sept. 11, 1996.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information obtained from the ABC Warehouse salesman was
corroborated by campaign financial records and documents
provided by ABC Warehouse. The Subcommittee obtained a campaign
check dated August 7, 1995, in the amount of $913.72, payable
to ABC Warehouse for ``Appliances.'' That check was signed only
by Barbara-Rose Collins, and endorsed by ABC Appliance, Inc.
Correspondingly, a February 1, 1996, FEC filing by the Friends
of Barbara-Rose Collins reported that on August 7, 1995, the
campaign disbursed $913.72 to ABC Warehouse in Southfield,
Michigan for ``Freezer & Stove'' for ``appliances for Hdq.''
The Subcommittee obtained a copy of the original invoice
from ABC Warehouse dated August 7, 1995, indicating that the
store received payment for a freezer, oven, and dryer by means
of a check matching the serial number of the campaign check
referenced above. The Subcommittee also obtained an amended ABC
Warehouse invoice dated August 16, 1995, noting ``Customer
Picking Up ABC Pontiac'' with respect to an oven and dryer, and
bearing the signature ``Jerry Springs.''
Documents concerning the refund of a delivery charge by ABC
Warehouse also indicate that the purchases were at least
partially personal in nature. On or about September 1, 1995,
ABC Warehouse issued a refund check in the amount of $42.40 in
recognition of the fact that the purchaser had made
arrangements after initially paying a delivery fee to pick up
the merchandise. The check was payable to ``Barbara Collins''
and was mailed to 8120 East Jefferson, Apartment 2F, Detroit,
Michigan, her personal residence. Representative Collins
subsequently endorsed the check, and documents provided by ABC
Warehouse indicate that the check cleared the bank on September
13, 1995.
Mr. Springs testified that he (rather than Representative
Collins) tendered payment for the merchandise.153 He
denied that he picked up an oven, dryer, or any other appliance
from ABC Warehouse on behalf of Representative Collins or her
campaign organization.154 In that regard, he testified
that he did not know who picked up the appliances from ABC
Warehouse, and had no knowledge that they were subsequently
transferred to Representative Collins' home at Shay
Lake.155
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\153\ Springs Dep. II at 75-77.
\154\ Id. at 73.
\155\ Id. at 78.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approximately two months after the original purchase of the
appliances from ABC Warehouse, Representative Collins took
steps to reimburse the campaign for the oven and dryer, at
least partially. On or about October 3, 1995, Representative
Collins issued a personal check in the amount of $345.00
payable to her campaign. According to ABC Warehouse, the total
cost of the oven and dryer was $506.68, including a delivery
charge of $42.40. Thus, the total cost without delivery was
$464.28, approximately $119.00 more than the amount
Representative Collins remitted to the campaign.
G. Count VII (Expenditure of Campaign Funds Not Attributable to Bona
Fide Campaign or Political Purposes)
The Subcommittee found credible evidence of at least three
instances where Representative Collins' campaign apparently
expended funds for purposes not attributable to bona fide
campaign or political purposes.
1. Loan to house employee
Joyce Smith, who formerly worked in the district office in
Detroit, testified that she personally asked Representative
Collins for a loan to pay her home electric bill in the fall of
1994.156 According to Ms. Smith, Representative Collins
subsequently caused a campaign check to be made available to
her in the amount of $1,000.00, payable to Detroit
Edison.157 A copy of the check obtained by the
Subcommittee states that the purpose of the payment was to
``Reconnect 19713 Ridgemont St. Clair Shores.'' A campaign
filing with the FEC dated January 8, 1996, lists a disbursement
on October 26, 1994, to Detroit Edison in the amount of
$1,000.00 to ``[r]econnect 19731 Ridgemont constituents.'' Ms.
Smith testified that the address on the check corresponded to
her personal residence, and that she was not a constituent of
Representative Collins at the time of the disbursement.158
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\156\ Smith Dep. at 31.
\157\ Id.
\158\ Smith Dep. at 31-32.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Smith testified that when Representative Collins made
the $1,000.00 in campaign funds available to her,
Representative Collins stressed the need for Ms. Smith to pay
back the loan in full to the campaign committee.159 When
Ms. Smith later approached Representative Collins to repay the
loan, she asked Representative Collins if she should pay in
cash or write a check to the campaign account.160
According to Ms. Smith, Representative Collins instructed her
to pay in cash, and she personally gave Representative Collins
$500.00 in cash.161 Ms. Smith advised the Subcommittee
that she has no knowledge that Representative Collins
transferred that cash to the campaign treasury.162
Subsequently, Ms. Smith personally gave Representative Collins
an additional $500.00 in cash to pay off the balance of the
loan.163
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\159\ Id. at 46.
\160\ Id.
\161\ Id. at 32, 46.
\162\ Id. at 46-47.
\163\ Id. at 32, 46.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Smith testified that when she made the latter payment,
Representative Collins said that she was planning to use those
funds for spending money on an upcoming trip to Africa.164
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\164\ Id. at 47.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Expenditures relating to trip to Africa
In early December 1994, Representative Collins traveled to
Ghana with approximately twenty people, including several
members of her congressional staff.165 The congressional
staff who accompanied Representative Collins included Valerie
Nicholas, Joyce Smith, Jerry Springs, George Stanton, and Korey
Hall.166 Mr. Stanton's wife and two of Representative
Collins' grandchildren also participated in the trip.167
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\165\ Springs Dep. II at 37.
\166\ Smith Dep. at 27; Deposition of George Stanton, May 22, 1996,
at 16 (hereafter ``Stanton Dep.''); Nicholas Dep. at 66; Springs Dep. I
at 68-70.
\167\ Stanton Dep. at 31; Smith Dep. at 29.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Credible testimony and documentary evidence indicate that
the trip to Africa did not serve a bona fide campaign or
political purpose. Rather, the principal purpose and
centerpiece event of the trip was the ``crowning'' of
Representative Collins as the ``Queen Mother'' of a local
community in Ghana on December 11, 1994.168 Jerry Springs
testified that he understood the purpose of the trip was to
``foster relationships with the country of Ghana,'' and that
``many of the events'' during the trip ``involved'' Ghanaian
dignitaries, such as a ``tribal chief,'' President Jerry
Rawlings, and cabinet ministers.169 In that regard, a
January 8, 1996, filing with the FEC by the Collins campaign
reported $272.95 in campaign expenditures for ``refreshments''
for a ``meeting with African leaders and business people to
discuss econ devel & trade with Detroit.'' In contrast, Valerie
Nicholas testified that she and Representative Collins were
together during much of the trip, and that she was unaware of
any meetings with Ghanaian government officials.170 In any
event, the record as a whole suggests that any meetings between
Representative Collins and Ghanaian government officials were
incidental to the trip, and that the trip was mostly personal
in nature for Representative Collins and the members of her
entourage.171 George Stanton, for example, testified that
``[i]t was a personal trip for me. I went purely for the
enjoyment of going to Africa.'' 172
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\168\ Nicholas Dep. at 70-71; Smith Dep. at 27; Springs Dep. I at
70-71; Stanton Dep. at 16.
\169\ Springs Dep. II at 36; see also Stanton Dep. at 17-18.
\170\ Nicholas Dep. at 69.
\171\ Nicholas Dep. at 68-69; Stanton Dep. at 17.
\172\ Stanton Dep. at 18.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee received credible documentary and
testimonial evidence that the Collins campaign expended several
thousand dollars in campaign funds in connection with the trip
to Africa. For example, the Subcommittee obtained a campaign
check issued on or about December 6, 1994, in the amount of
$4,000.00, payable to Jerry Springs. The check itself contained
only the annotation ``for 1840-30096-4.'' A campaign filing
with the FEC dated January 8, 1996, represented that the
purpose of the disbursement concerned a ``reception'' for the
``Panafest event,'' and the corresponding entry in the campaign
check register indicated that the payment related to the
``Panafest Reception.'' According to testimony by congressional
staff who participated in the trip, the term ``Panafest''
refers to a music and cultural festival in Ghana held
approximately every two years, which occurred during
Representative Collins' trip to Africa.173
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\173\ Nicholas Dep. at 71; Stanton Dep. at 16; Springs Dep. I at
77.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Springs endorsed the check and cashed it on December 7,
1994, prior to his departure for Africa.174 According to
Mr. Springs, he subsequently gave the entire $4,000.00 in cash
proceeds to campaign treasurer Cynthia Simpson, Representative
Collins' daughter.175 Mr. Springs testified that he did
not recall who directed him to give the cash proceeds to Ms.
Simpson.176
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\174\ Springs Dep. II at 34-35, 41.
\175\ Id. at 35, 41.
\176\ Id. at 42.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Springs testified that he was unsure what Ms. Simpson
did with the cash, and that he did not discuss with
Representative Collins or anyone else how the funds would be
used ``because it didn't concern me.'' 177 Based upon an
itinerary prepared before the trip, however, Mr. Springs told
the Subcommittee that it was his understanding that
Representative Collins would use the funds to pay for
receptions, luncheons, and other events during the
trip.178 Mr. Springs testified that he did not receive any
personal benefit from the cash proceeds of the check.179
Joyce Smith, who co-signed the check with campaign treasurer
Cynthia Simpson, recalled that Jerry Springs used a portion of
the $4,000.00 in proceeds from the check to purchase gifts for
Representative Collins to give to local dignitaries in Ghana,
and that Representative Collins took the remainder of the funds
with her on the trip.180
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\177\ Id. at 44, 46.
\178\ Id. at 35, 43-44.
\179\ Id. at 47, 50.
\180\ Smith Dep. at 38.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On or about January 20, 1995, the Collins campaign issued a
check in the amount of $8,043.11, co-signed by Representative
Collins and Joyce Smith and payable to American Express for the
``Golden Tulip Hotel'' and other expenses. Other information
obtained by the Subcommittee, including an FEC filing by the
campaign dated January 8, 1996, indicates that the Golden Tulip
Hotel is an establishment in Accra, Ghana.
Finally, according to a separate FEC filing also dated
January 8, 1996, the Collins campaign disbursed $1,673.00 to
the ``African Art Market [in] Accra, Ghana'' on February 10,
1995, for ``Art objects for offices'' in ``DC/District.''
Although the FEC filing represented that the disbursement was
made in February 1995, the record suggests that the art
purchases were made during Representative Collins' trip to
Ghana in December 1994. The Subcommittee found no record of
this disbursement in the campaign check register or in the
campaign's monthly bank statements, suggesting that cash
transactions may have occurred.
3. Personal cleaning services
The Subcommittee obtained credible evidence that
Representative Collins used campaign funds to pay for her
personal residence in Detroit to be cleaned. Joyce Smith
advised Committee staff that she used petty cash located in the
district congressional office to pay a woman by the first name
of ``Mary'' to clean Representative Collins' residence.181
According to Ms. Smith, that petty cash consisted of funds from
the campaign's bank account.182 She advised Committee
staff that she prepared and co-signed campaign checks payable
to Jerry Springs for petty cash, and that Mr. Springs
subsequently informed her that he had cashed such checks for
petty cash and had placed the cash in his office desk.183
Ms. Smith told Committee staff that she customarily went to
Representative Collins' residence to pay the cleaning lady and
lock up the residence after the cleaning lady had completed her
work, and that she would advise Mr. Springs of what she had
done.184 Before leaving the district office, she would ask
Mr. Springs for cash to pay the cleaning lady, and he would
provide her with cash from the petty cash fund.185 On some
occasions, according to Ms. Smith, Mr. Springs personally went
to Representative Collins' residence to pay the cleaning
lady.186
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\181\ Smith Int. I; Committee Counsel interview with Joyce Smith,
Dec. 9, 1996 (hereafter ``Smith Int. II'').
\182\ Smith Int. II.
\183\ Id.
\184\ Smith Int. I; Smith Int. II.
\185\ Smith Int. II.
\186\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other evidence obtained by the Subcommittee confirms
information provided by Joyce Smith. First, Jerry Springs
acknowledged that the Collins campaign maintained a petty cash
fund. He testified that most of the petty cash funds derived
from the campaign account were kept in a secure location
outside of the district congressional office, and that he
brought only ``a couple [of] hundred dollars'' into the
district office ``just in case something came up.'' 187 He
also testified that if someone needed money from the petty cash
fund, he or she came directly to Mr. Springs.188 Second,
on or about February 9, 1995, the Collins campaign issued a
check in the amount of $300.00 to ``Mary Pointer'' for
``services rendered,'' co-signed by Representative Collins and
Joyce Smith. An amended FEC filing dated January 8, 1996,
characterized the purpose of the $300.00 disbursement as
``maintenance campaign mtgs.'' Joyce Smith advised Committee
staff, however, that congressional staff in the district office
were responsible for cleaning the campaign facility.189
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\187\ Springs Dep. II at 52, 64-65.
\188\ Id. at 62-63.
\189\ Smith Int. II.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
H. Count VIII (Misuse of Scholarship Funds)
In connection with allegations that Representative Collins
misused resources of a scholarship fund bearing her name, the
Subcommittee sought information about the purpose and
activities of that fund. The Subcommittee learned that on or
about December 17, 1992, an organization by the name of the
``Collins Congressional-Community Scholarship Committee''
(``CCCSC'') was incorporated in the District of Columbia as a
private, non-profit corporation. Article Three of the Articles
of Incorporation indicated that the organization would seek
tax-exempt status. It stated that the corporation ``is
organized exclusively for charitable [purposes], including, for
such purposes, the making of distribution to the organizations
that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any
future federal tax code.'' Article Five stated that ``[n]o part
of the net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the
benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees,
officers, or other private persons, except that the corporation
shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable
compensation for services rendered and to make payments and
distributions in furtherance of the purposes set for in Article
[Three] hereof.''
The articles of incorporation identified Barbara-Rose
Collins as the registered agent of the CCCSC, listing her
address as 301 G Street, S.W., Apt. 620, Washington, D.C.
20004. Representative Collins also was among the initial
directors of the corporation, which included her daughter
Cynthia Simpson and one other person.
On approximately December 22, 1992, the CCCSC applied to
the Internal Revenue Service (``IRS'') for tax-exempt status
under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The record indicates that Representative Collins signed the
application as ``President'' of the CCCSC. In its application
for exempt status, the CCCSC provided information regarding its
proposed activities and operations. The organization indicated
that it planned to distribute food baskets during the Christmas
season in Detroit and Washington, D.C. The CCCSC stated that
the food distribution would ``be initiated from the Detroit
area by the Collins Congressional Community-Scholarship
Committee to needy families provided by church and community
organizations.'' In addition, the CCCSC indicated that it would
award annual scholarships to persons in the Detroit area. It
stated in the application that ``[s]cholarships will be
distributed annually, prior to the college fall semester of the
college school year, to benefit students who meet a certain
criteria set by the Committee. The activity will be initiated
from the Detroit area by the Collins Congressional Community-
Scholarship Committee.''
The CCCSC stated in the application that its ``sources of
financial support'' would be ``Public Support, Fundraisers,
Donations, and Direct Solicitation.'' It also stated that
``[t]he organization's fundraising program will consist of
Direct solicitation.''
The IRS advised Committee staff that it could not locate in
its files any ``exemption letter'' concerning the CCCSC,
indicating that it had never granted exempt status to the
organization under any subpart of Section 501(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code. The Subcommittee also learned that the
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs of the District
of Columbia revoked the CCCSC corporate charter in September
1994 for failing to file an annual report.
Bank records indicate that persons working on behalf of the
CCCSC successfully raised several thousand dollars in
contributions to the CCCSC, mostly from corporations in the
Detroit area. On September 30, 1994, for example, the CCCSC
checking account balance at Riggs Bank totaled $38,257.61.
Evidence obtained by the Subcommittee indicates that
Representative Collins exercised direct personal control over
CCCSC finances. Valerie Nicholas testified that Representative
Collins maintained the CCCSC checkbook in her congressional
office in Washington, D.C.190 Ms. Nicholas' testimony is
corroborated by records obtained from Riggs Bank in Washington,
D.C., which indicate that Representative Collins routinely
signed checks drawn on the CCCSC account. In addition, records
from Riggs Bank indicate that on October 27, 1995,
Representative Collins personally closed the CCCSC bank
account.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\190\ Nicholas Dep. at 51.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bank records and testimonial evidence indicate that CCCSC
funds were expended at least partly for purposes consistent
with the original corporate charter and the application for
exempt status. Canceled checks, for example, indicate that in
December 1993 and December 1994, Representative Collins caused
CCCSC checks to be issued for several hundred dollars in
purchases relating to the ``Festival of Giving,'' such as the
purchase of turkeys and fruit baskets.191 In addition,
canceled checks indicate that the CCCSC awarded a total of at
least $7,500.00 in scholarship funds to at least twelve persons
in 1994 and 1995.192 District office employee George
Stanton, who testified that he was extensively involved in
CCCSC operations, told the Subcommittee that the purpose of the
scholarship program was to ``try and help needy students in the
district with their college costs.'' 193
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\191\ See Smith Dep. at 30-31; Stanton Dep. at 57, 68.
\192\ See Payne Dep. at 31-32.
\193\ Stanton Dep. at 56.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the same time, however, the record indicates that
several thousand dollars in CCCSC funds were commingled with
personal funds of Representative Collins and converted for
personal use, as detailed below.
On or about May 3, 1994, Representative Collins
signed a check drawn on the account of the CCCSC in the
amount of $9,800.00, payable to ``Cash'' for
Scholarships. The record indicates that Representative
Collins endorsed that check and, on or about May 4,
1994, caused it to be deposited into her personal
checking account at the Credit Union, raising the
account balance to approximately $34,630.00.
Approximately three weeks later, Representative Collins
wrote $500.00 in checks for scholarship awards to five
recipients, and in October 1994, she signed three
additional scholarship checks totaling $3,000.00. In
December 1994, Representative Collins signed another
scholarship check in the amount of $500.00. All of
those checks, however, were drawn on the CCCSC account,
not on Representative Collins' personal account. The
Subcommittee found no evidence that Representative
Collins caused any of the CCCSC funds transferred to
her personal account to be used for scholarship
purposes or for the Festival of Giving.
On or about August 15, 1994, Representative Collins
signed a check drawn on the CCCSC account in the amount
of $1,200.00, payable to ``Kande Dean.'' The canceled
check and other bank records indicate that
Representative Collins personally endorsed the check
and cashed it on the same day, August 15. The
Subcommittee did not obtain any evidence indicating a
relationship between this check and either scholarships
or the Festival of Giving. The Subcommittee was unable
to obtain any information about ``Kande Dean,'' or
about the actual use of the funds transferred to
Representative Collins' personal account.
On or about October 24, 1994, Representative Collins
signed a check drawn on the CCCSC account in the amount
of $3,812.11, payable to American Express for ``AC
3728-334-213-25001.'' According to other information
obtained by the Subcommittee, the account number listed
on the check corresponds to Representative Collins'
personal American Express account. The Subcommittee did
not receive any evidence indicating that Representative
Collins used her American Express credit card on behalf
of the CCCSC, or that she was obtaining legitimate
reimbursement for such expenditures.
On or about November 9, 1994, Representative Collins
signed a check drawn on the CCCSC account in the amount
$8,000, payable to House employee Valerie Nicholas for
the stated purpose of the ``Festival of Giving.'' Ms.
Nicholas testified that one evening, Representative
Collins called Ms. Nicholas into her office, handed her
a check that already had been written, and instructed
Ms. Nicholas to cash it.194 Ms. Nicholas further
testified that Representative Collins directed her to
cash the check the next morning and to bring the cash
proceeds to her home in Virginia.195 According to
Ms. Nicholas, Representative Collins said nothing about
why the check was payable to Ms. Nicholas, why she had
not made the check payable to cash and cashed it
herself, or why she wanted Ms. Nicholas to bring the
cash proceeds to her at her home.196 Nor did
Representative Collins mention the Festival of Giving
in connection with the check.197 The next morning,
November 10, Ms. Nicholas cashed the check at Riggs
Bank in Washington, D.C. and brought the cash proceeds
to Representative Collins at her home in
Virginia.198 Ms. Nicholas had no personal
knowledge regarding the ultimate purpose of the cash
proceeds, but she testified that she was required to
help Representative Collins pack for a trip to India
when she delivered the money to her at her home in
Virginia.199 In addition, the Subcommittee
obtained documentary evidence that Representative
Collins traveled to India in November 1994, and that
she purchased merchandise in India valued at nearly
$2,000.00.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\194\ Nicholas Dep. at 58.
\195\ Id. at 59-61.
\196\ Id. at 59-60.
\197\ Id. at 62.
\198\ Id. at 61.
\199\ Id. at 61, 63.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The record indicates that Representative Collins used
CCCSC funds to purchase home furnishings for her
personal residence. On or about May 7, 1995,
Representative Collins issued a check drawn on her
personal account at the Credit Union in the amount of
$5,000.00, payable to ``Classic Consignments.'' The
Subcommittee learned that ``The Classic Consignment
Company'' (hereafter ``Classic Consignment'') is a
business in Palm Desert, California specializing in the
sale of luxury second-hand home furnishings and other
merchandise.200 On or about May 9, 1995,
Representative Collins caused a check to be issued from
the CCCSC bank account in the amount of $8,900.00,
payable to ``Comerica/Cash'' for ``Classic
Consignments.'' She signed and endorsed the check. Bank
records indicate that on the same day, she caused the
check to be deposited into her personal account at
Comerica Bank in Detroit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\200\ Committee Counsel interview with Ed Mann, Classic
Consignments, May 29, 1996 (hereafter ``Mann Int.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A store invoice, supplemented by information from a
co-owner who assisted Representative Collins, indicates
that on May 13, 1995, Representative Collins purchased
$4,440.00 in merchandise from Classic Consignment,
including a Tiffany lamp valued at $1,000.00, a French
crystal lamp valued at $2,250, and two chandeliers.
According to the invoice and information from the store
official, Representative Collins directed that the
merchandise be shipped to her personal residence in
Detroit at a cost of approximately $1,048.00, bringing
the total amount of the purchase and shipping to
approximately $5,646.00.201 On or about July 1,
1995, Representative Collins issued a subsequent
personal check to Classic Consignment in the amount of
$645.81, designated ``Final Payment.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\201\ Mann Int.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The record indicates that Representative Collins
subsequently reimbursed the CCCSC account for the
$8,900.00 in CCCSC funds previously deposited to her
personal account. On or about June 1, 1995,
Representative Collins caused a check to be issued on
her personal account at the Credit Union in the amount
of $8,900.00, payable to the CCCSC. That check contains
the handwritten annotation ``Reimburse Ch#1081,''
corresponding to the serial number of the check drawn
on the CCCSC account on May 9, 1995. On or about
September 20, 1995--nearly three months later--
Representative Collins' personal check in the amount of
$8,900.00 was deposited into the CCCSC account at Riggs
Bank in Washington, D.C.
On or about October 3, 1995, a check drawn on the account
of the CCCSC was issued in the amount of $3,888.90, payable to
American Express for ``CBC Week Hotel Expenses & Misc. Hyatt
Regency.'' Representative Collins signed the check.
Testimony from members of Representative Collins'
congressional staff, supplemented by information from a
former official with the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation (``Foundation''), indicates that the
annotation on the above check relates to an annual
conference in Washington, D.C. held by the
Foundation.202 According to Clinton Lawson, then
the Executive Director of the Foundation, the
conference consists of four days of policy workshops,
receptions, and fundraising events.203 Several
thousand African-Americans attend the conference,
including elected officials and educators.204
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\202\ Dorsey Dep. at 23; Nicholas Dep. at 37; Committee Counsel
interview with Clinton Lawson, Executive Director, Congressional Black
Caucus Foundation, Apr. 16, 1996 (hereafter ``Lawson Int.'').
\203\ Lawson Int.
\204\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to congressional staff, it was
Representative Collins' practice to sponsor an annual
party during the Foundation's annual conference, known
as the ``Michigan Bash.'' 205 Valerie Nicholas
testified that in 1994, Representative Collins used
contributions to the CCCSC to fly in family members to
Washington, D.C. and pay for their lodging at the Grand
Hyatt Hotel.206 The Subcommittee obtained no
evidence indicating that the use of CCCSC funds to pay
for hotel accommodations and other related expenses
furthered the purposes of the CCCSC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\205\ Nicholas Dep. at 37; Dorsey Dep. at 23; German Int.
\206\ Nicholas Dep. at 46.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bank documents indicate that on October 27, 1995,
Representative Collins closed the CCCSC account at Riggs Bank.
To close the account, Representative Collins caused a check
drawn on the account to be issued in the amount of $12,367.91
(the balance in the account), made payable to ``Riggs/Barbara-
Rose Collins.'' Representative Collins signed and endorsed that
check. Bank documents indicate that on the same day,
Representative Collins cashed that check and used the cash
proceeds to purchase a cashier's check in the amount of
$6,853.91, payable to ``Barbara R. Collins.'' Bank documents
also indicate that Representative Collins endorsed that check
and transferred it to another unidentified person, who also
endorsed the check. Riggs Bank apparently did not pay the check
until December 4, 1995. The Subcommittee was unable to
determine the ultimate disposition of the check proceeds.
Representative Collins also used cash--apparently
from the proceeds from the cashier's check in the
amount of $12,367.91--to purchase two additional
cashier's checks on October 27, 1995. One of those
checks was made payable to ``Operation Get Down'' in
the amount of $4,000.00. According to Ceceilia Walker,
the deputy district director, ``Operation Get Down'' is
an organization in Detroit that provides food,
clothing, and mentoring to underprivileged and
disadvantaged persons.207
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\207\ Deposition of Ceceilia Walker, May 22, 1996, at 55-66
(hereafter ``Walker Dep.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Representative Collins endorsed the $4,000.00 check.
Beneath her endorsement is the handwritten annotation,
``Not Used For Purpose Intended.'' Bank records
indicate that Riggs Bank did not pay that check until
November 15, 1995. The Subcommittee was unable to
obtain any information concerning the disposition of
the proceeds from that check.
The other cashier's check purchased by Representative
Collins on October 27, 1995, was in the amount of
$1,500.00, payable to Lillian German, a staffer in
Representative Collins' Washington congressional
office. Ms. German advised Committee staff that she
received a ``certified'' check from Riggs Bank in the
amount of $1,500.00 from Royal Hart, the Deputy Chief
of Staff in the Washington office.208 According to
Ms. German, she cashed the check at the Credit
Union.209 She then purchased a money order with
some of the cash proceeds and used that money order to
buy books on women's health that Representative Collins
had asked her to obtain on behalf of ``Men and Women of
Destiny,'' a group of supporters in Detroit.210
Ms. German told Committee staff that she returned the
remainder of the cash proceeds from the cashier's check
to Representative Collins, placing them on her office
chair in an envelope.211 The Subcommittee found no
evidence that the expenditure of CCCSC funds for the
purchase of books for ``Men and Women of Destiny''
constituted a use of CCCSC funds for Representative
Collins' personal use. The Subcommittee was unable to
determine the amount or disposition of the funds
returned to Representative Collins by Ms. German.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\208\ German Int.
\209\ Id.
\210\ Id.
\211\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
i. count ix (maintenance of unofficial account)
In addition to obtaining evidence regarding the
disbursement of campaign funds for petty cash expenses
represented as legitimate campaign expenditures, as discussed
above, the Subcommittee learned that campaign funds also were
used to capitalize a petty cash fund used at least partly for
expenses relating to Representative Collins' district
congressional office. Ceceilia Walker, then the deputy district
director, testified that the need for petty cash relating to
district office activities first arose in the fall of 1995,
when she learned that she could not use official funds to
purchase frames for certificates awarded to constituents in
Detroit for outstanding community service or personal
achievement.212 At that time, Ms. Walker purchased frames
totaling $13.78 with her personal funds and was reimbursed,
consistent with House rules, by the Collins campaign.213
According to Ms. Walker, the fact that funds were not more
readily available to purchase the frames led to a discussion
within the congressional office about the need for a source of
funds for petty cash expenses relating to the office.214
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\212\ Walker Dep. at 10-13, 28, 42.
\213\ Id. at 11.
\214\ Id. at 28.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subsequently, in early October 1995, District Director
Jerry Springs transmitted to Ms. Walker a sealed envelope from
Representative Collins containing a check in the amount of
$500.00, along with other documents from Representative
Collins.215 That check, dated October 6, 1995, was drawn
on the campaign's account and was payable to Ms.
Walker.216 A handwritten annotation on the check indicated
that the check was to be used for ``petty cash,'' and Jerry
Springs subsequently told Ms. Walker that she should use the
proceeds from the check for petty cash purposes.217
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\215\ Id. at 23-26.
\216\ Id. at 26.
\217\ Id. at 26-27.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Walker testified that she cashed the check and kept
some of the cash proceeds in a file cabinet at the district
congressional office.218 Although Ms. Walker did not
recall whether she received specific instructions regarding how
to use the funds--other than to use them for petty cash--she
testified that she was ``under the impression . . . from Mr.
Springs and . . . the Congresswoman that we could purchase . .
. certain items . . . for office use or for meetings or
whatever, provided that we kept very accurate records and
receipts, and I did that.'' 219 While Ms. Walker
understood that the funds were to be used for expenses related
to the congressional office, she testified that Representative
Collins did not tell her specifically that the funds should be
used for the district office.220 Rather, she recalled that
Representative Collins ``just said petty cash.'' 221 Ms.
Walker added that at no time did either Representative Collins
or Jerry Springs instruct her not to use the petty cash fund
for expenses related to the district office.222
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\218\ Id. at 29.
\219\ Id. at 21, 28-29, 32.
\220\ Id. at 43.
\221\ Id.
\222\ Id. at 49-50.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Walker maintained an organized record-keeping system
regarding the petty cash fund. District office staff submitted
receipts to her for reimbursement from the petty cash fund,
which she kept in the office.223 She also devised a ledger
to log petty cash expenditures and reflect the balance of the
petty cash fund.224 The initial entry on that ledger
reflects a balance of $500.00, corresponding to the campaign
check that she received from Jerry Springs.225
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\223\ Id. at 30-31.
\224\ Id. at 31-33.
\225\ Id. at 33-34.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neither the ledger maintained by Ms. Walker nor attached
receipts provide a basis for determining the precise purpose of
petty cash expenses reimbursed from the fund capitalized by the
$500.00 campaign check. In reviewing the ledger and receipts at
her deposition, Ms. Walker identified several expenses that, in
her judgment, were unrelated to the district office, such as
the repair of a fax machine for $185.00.226 She based her
conclusion regarding the fax machine on the fact that the
congressional office had a pre-existing maintenance contract
for repairs to the office fax machine.227 Ms. Walker
recalled that the voucher for the repair of the fax machine had
been submitted to her by Mr. Springs, who informed Ms. Walker
that Representative Collins had approved the reimbursement from
petty cash.228
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\226\ Id. at 34-35.
\227\ Id.
\228\ Id. at 35-36.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before the $500.00 in petty cash funds was depleted, Ms.
Walker received another check drawn on the campaign's account
in the amount of $1,000.00 to replenish the account.229
Ms. Walker received the check directly from Representative
Collins during a meeting with Representative Collins at her
personal residence in Detroit.230 She recalled that during
the meeting, Representative Collins inquired about the status
of the petty cash fund, and that she advised Representative
Collins that the fund was almost depleted.231 According to
Ms. Walker, Representative Collins subsequently gave her a
$1,000.00 check drawn on the campaign account and told her to
use it for petty cash.232 Ms. Walker could not recall
whether she discussed with Representative Collins whether funds
from the $1,000.00 check could be used to purchase items for
the district office, but she interpreted Representative
Collins' reference to ``petty cash'' to mean that the funds
would be used for the district office.233
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\229\ Id. at 40-43.
\230\ Id. at 40.
\231\ Id.
\232\ Id. at 41-42.
\233\ Id. at 42-43.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Documents obtained by the Subcommittee corroborated Ms.
Walker's testimony. The Subcommittee obtained a canceled
campaign check in the amount of $1,000.00, dated October 30,
1995, and payable to Ceceilia Walker for ``Petty Cash fund.''
The corresponding check stub represented that the payment was
for ``Petty Cash (misc. ofc. supplies).'' The petty cash ledger
created by Ms. Walker for the period of October 19-November 29,
1995, reflects an infusion of $1,000.00.234 In addition, a
FEC filing by the Collins campaign dated February 1, 1996,
reported a disbursement on October 30, 1995, to Ceceilia Walker
in the amount of $1,000.00 for ``supplies.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\234\ Id. at 46.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Walker deposited the check into her personal bank
account, later withdrawing cash for the petty cash
fund.235 Receipts and reimbursement vouchers associated
with the subsequent use of the petty cash fund indicate that
the fund was used at least partly for purposes related to the
district office. Ms. Walker purchased several items (other than
frames) related to certificate awards, such as cleaning
supplies and ribbons totaling approximately $51.00.236 The
record also includes receipts and vouchers for purchases of
labels totaling approximately $92.00, at least some of which
were obtained for the district office's ``legislative update
mailing.'' 237
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\235\ Id. at 43-44.
\236\ Id. at 46-47.
\237\ Id. at 47-48.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Subcommittee also obtained evidence that campaign funds
were used to purchase furnishings for the congressional offices
in Detroit and Washington. Ms. Walker testified that, at
Representative Collins' express request, she used the petty
cash fund to purchase a pedestal to display art in the district
office, at a cost of approximately $108.00.238 A February
1, 1996, campaign filing with the FEC reported that the
campaign disbursed $500.00 to ``Open Market'' in New Delhi,
India on January 2, 1995, for a ``Floor Rug'' for the ``D.C.
Office.'' According to a FEC filing by the Collins campaign
date February 1, 1996, the campaign made separate disbursements
of $200.00 and $70.00 to the ``Senegal Art Market'' in Senegal
on May 16, 1995, for ``art carvings'' for the ``D.C. Office''
and ``Det. office,'' respectively. The Subcommittee could not
confirm whether African art purchased with campaign funds
actually was placed in either congressional office, although
Gloria Dorsey testified that African art was on display in
Representative Collins' personal office in Washington.239
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\238\ Id. at 50-51.
\239\ Dorsey Dep. at 33-34.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
J. Count X (Employee Raises Not Commensurate With Official Duties)
The Subcommittee obtained credible testimonial and
documentary evidence that Representative Collins awarded raises
to members of her congressional staff to enable them to
participate in a December 1994 trip to Africa that apparently
was personal in nature.240 Valerie Nicholas testified that
Representative Collins personally asked her if she wanted to
accompany her to Africa.241 According to Ms. Nicholas, she
replied that ``I would love to go but I don't have money to
go.'' 242 Representative Collins told Ms. Nicholas that
she would award a bonus to Ms. Nicholas to enable her to go on
the trip.243 According to Ms. Nicholas, Representative
Collins said that she could not pay for all of Ms. Nicholas's
travel expenses, but would pay for half of them.244 At no
time did Representative Collins indicate to Ms. Nicholas that
her bonus was in recognition for the performance of her
official duties.245
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\240\ See discussion above.
\241\ Nicholas Dep. at 65.
\242\ Id. at 66.
\243\ Id.
\244\ Id.
\245\ Id. at 67.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The linkage between Ms. Nicholas's salary increase and the
trip to Africa was further evidenced by a subsequent exchange
she had with Representative Collins regarding the possibility
that she might not be able to participate in the trip. When Ms.
Nicholas asked Representative Collins what would happen if she
did not participate in the trip, Representative Collins replied
that, in that event, ``I want my money back.'' 246
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\246\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joyce Smith testified that she also had a personal
conversation with Representative Collins about traveling to
Africa.247 In addition to recalling that Representative
Collins specifically linked a salary increase to the Africa
trip, Ms. Smith recalled that Representative Collins advised
her to change her withholding exemptions so that she could
receive the maximum amount of money.248 According to Ms.
Smith, Representative Collins did not tell her that the salary
increase was in any way related to the performance of her
official duties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\247\ Smith Dep. at 27-29.
\248\ Id. at 29.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Representative Collins invited George Stanton to
participate in the trip to Africa, he inquired if he would be
receiving his usual year-end bonus.249 According to Mr.
Stanton, he advised Representative Collins that his ability to
go on the trip would depend on the amount of his bonus.250
Mr. Stanton testified that Representative Collins indicated to
him that it was ``more likely than not'' that he would receive
a bonus.251 Mr. Stanton also had a follow-up conversation
with Representative Collins to confirm that he would be
receiving a bonus, as he was interested in bringing his wife
with him on the trip.252 According to Mr. Stanton, he and
Representative Collins shared a mutual understanding that his
travel to Africa with his wife was contingent on the size of
his bonus.253 Mr. Stanton told the Subcommittee, however,
that Representative Collins did not mention the Africa trip
when she confirmed that he would receive a bonus, and that she
said she was giving him a bonus because of his job performance
during the year.254
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\249\ Stanton Dep. at 22.
\250\ Id.
\251\ Id. at 23.
\252\ Id. at 23-24.
\253\ Id. at 25-26.
\254\ Id. at 25.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry Springs provided an account similar to that of Mr.
Stanton. He testified that Representative Collins at no time
told him that she would increase his salary to enable him to
finance his travel to Africa.255 According to Mr. Springs,
Representative Collins recommended him for a bonus in late 1994
because of his performance.256 Mr. Springs also testified
that he did not discuss with other staff participating in the
trip whether they received salary increases to enable them to
pay for their travel, and that he had no knowledge of such
increases.257
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\255\ Springs Dep. I at 76-77.
\256\ Id. at 76.
\257\ Id. at 80-81.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information compiled by the Clerk of the House confirms not
only that the congressional staff who traveled to Africa with
Representative Collins received year-end salary increases, but
that they were the only members of her staff to receive such
increases.
Valerie Nicholas' annual salary increased from
$30,000 in September 1994 to $85,000 in October 1994.
Her annual salary was reduced to $35,000 in November
1994.
Joyce Smith's annual salary increased from $35,000 in
October 1994 to $80,000 in November 1994. Her annual
salary then diminished to $30,000.
Jerry Springs' annual salary changed from $36,000 in
August 1994 to $80,000 in September 1994, remained at
$80,000 in October 1994, then declined to $45,000.
George Stanton, who was earning an annual salary of
$35,000 in August 1994, received an increase to $93,000
in September 1994. His salary remained at $93,000 in
October 1994 before reverting to $35,000 in November
1994.
Korey Hall, who earned an annual salary of $26,000 in
August 1994, received an increase to $70,000 in
September 1994. His annual salary was reduced to
$30,000 in October 1994.
The staff members benefiting from these temporary salary
increases received real increases in income apparently
substantial enough to finance their travel to Africa. Based on
the last quarter of 1994 prior to any salary increase, the
staff received the following total increases in income (rounded
to the nearest dollar): George Stanton, $10,667; Valerie
Nicholas, $5,417; Korey Hall, $6,000; Joyce Smith, $4,167; and
Jerry Springs, $8,833.
The record indicates that Representative Collins personally
was involved in implementing the salary increases. Valerie
Nicholas testified that Representative Collins personally
directed her to prepare forms for submission to the House
Office of Finance to effect the salary increases.