Watchdog group says Swalwell may have violated FEC rule in spending thousands on child care

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) may once again find himself in trouble with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) after his filings revealed close to $20,000 worth of questionably timed campaign spending on his kids.

The former House Intelligence Committee member and father of three is no stranger to enjoying the perks of the entitled class in Washington, D.C. In fact, as previously reported, the California lawmaker with a penchant for luxury accommodations and Chinese spies had managed to outspend pampered, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during the 2022 election cycle by roughly $140,000, spending roughly $580,000 for posh, five-star hotel stays and gourmet meals.

Of note, $131,000 of that campaign spending was attributed to childcare expenses, but around $17,500 of that was used after the election had taken place.

Kendra Arnold, the executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, explained to the Washington Free Beacon that while the use of campaign dollars to look after the children of politicians is considered acceptable if the spouse is not available, the same rule doesn’t apply if there is no corresponding campaign event.

“It would be a violation if he used campaign funds to pay for child care after the election if they were not directly caused by campaign activity,” she said.

According to the FEC filings, Swalwell for Congress made numerous payments between Nov. 14 and Dec. 30 to an Amanda Barbosa of Dublin, California listed as “Child Care for Campaign Event.” With sums ranging from just over $100 to a whopping $7,841.25 on Dec. 2, those charges added up to only the latest concern for the congressman’s potential finance violations.

In 2021, Fox News reported on an FEC complaint filed against Swalwell when his campaign filings suggested “anomalies in campaign expenditures that raise troubling questions as to whether campaign disbursements went towards personal use or to the direct benefit of family members.”

“These anomalies include what appears to be preloading of campaign dollars to a Starbuck account and/or gift cards, paying a family member over $17,000 for ‘childcare’, attending the musical Beach Blanket Babylon, and personal medical testing for COVID-19, among others,” the complaint went on demonstrating a pattern in what Swalwell has tried to get away with.

The complaint added, “Expenditures adding up to tens of thousands of dollars made by the Swalwell Committee point to behavior unrelated to the campaign of Rep. Swalwell. Based on its supervisory authority, the FEC should use their investigative ability, including the use of an audit, to examine violations of law by the Swalwell Committee.”

Some of Swalwell’s other questionable expenses included his spending $28,646 to charter a yacht from the Just Dreaming Yacht Charters in San Francisco and thousands spent in Paris, France in May 2022 including a stay at the Hotel La Maison Champs-Elysées where rooms cost around $1,000 to $1,200 per night.

At the time of this posting, Swalwell’s office had not responded to a request for comment from the Beacon.

Kevin Haggerty

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