PA-8: Naughton Hits Strouse Over Family Donations

naughtonDemocratic candidate Shaughnessy Naughton is going after Kevin Strouse’s campaign finances.

Yesterday, Chris Palmer and Jonathan Tamari of the Philadelphia Inquirer published a report that chronicled a trend of candidate’s parents donating to each other’s campaigns. In one cited example, Strouse’s parents gave $10,400 to Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) only for Bera’s parents to contributed $10,400 to Strouse’s campaign days later.

There is nothing illegal about this but it is clear the Naughton campaign wants to embarrass Strouse and held a conference call this morning to discuss the issue.

On the call, Naughton outlined four questions Strouse should answer: 1. What did he know and when did he know it? (The old Watergate classic) 2. Was there a quid pro quo involved? 3. Does Kevin approve of this activity and 4. Were there other types of fundraising swaps?

“It certainly appears to violate the spirit of the law if not the law itself,” Naughton said. “If it’s not illegal it certainly should be.”

Her campaign has complained about this practice before, she mentioned it during one of the candidate’s two debates last month.

She also denied participating in this activity herself when asked by a reporter from the Inquirer.

“No, my mother was a cleaning lady,” Naughton responded indicating her parents did not have the resources of her opponent.

“At best this is a bizarre scheme, at worst it is an attempt to skirt campaign finance limits,” she concluded.

The campaign did not entertain questions about other topics during the conference call. When Jeff Bohen of Levittown Now attempted to ask one, and asserted he’d been lied to, he was cut off.

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