Democrats Say Chenoweth Paid Herself Leasing Costs Skyrocketed From $675 To $1,800 A Month; Congressman Says Nothing Was Illegal

U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth’s campaign paid an average of $1,800 a month to sublease part of a small southeast Boise office from her private business - a month after the campaign had paid just $675 to rent the same space from the building owner.

At the same time that the first payment on that sublease was made in August 1994, Chenoweth’s campaign was paying just $800 a month to rent three times as much downtown Boise space for its headquarters.

Bill Mauk, chairman of the Idaho Democratic Party, has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate the legality of financial transactions between the Chenoweth campaign and her business - Consulting Associates Inc. - and between the business and Chenoweth.

The Idaho freshman Republican would provide little information on the transactions reported in federal financial disclosure statements. But she insisted there is nothing illegal about them.

Under federal campaign finance regulations, candidates are given wide discretion in how they spend the contributions they receive.

However, Democrats argue that Chenoweth was overpaying for services the campaign received from Consulting Associates so the business had enough money to pay her a $33,000 salary during 1994, when she publicly said she was campaigning for Congress full time.

The $33,000 salary she received in 1994 was 50 percent more than she had been paid in 1993 by the business she operated for years with partner Vern Ravenscroft.

In his complaint to elections officials, the state Democratic Party chairman accused Chenoweth of “paying herself directly or indirectly for consulting services to her own campaign.

“By funneling money from her campaign through Consulting Associates Inc., it appears that Ms. Chenoweth was able to launder political contributions for her personal gain,” Mauk said.

Chenoweth said the dates in the federal records on which her campaign made rental payments to Consulting Associates do not necessarily correspond with the period of the sublease signed between the campaign and the business.

But when asked for specifics last Thursday, Chenoweth would not say when her campaign began subleasing part of the 800-square-foot office rented from Eighteen Forty-Three Broadway, a locally registered business entity. Nor would she say what campaign business was conducted from the office.

“It’s not that I can’t remember,” she said. “It’s that I don’t want to say anything until I know that it’s accurate.”

Chenoweth promised to supply specifics to The Associated Press later Thursday, but neither she nor campaign aides offered any additional information through the rest of the day.

On Friday, she was reminded of the questions, and within an hour, her campaign attorney, son-in-law John Keenan, contacted the AP. But beyond reiterating that nothing illegal had occurred, Keenan said he could not explain the various transactions or provide details about the sublease or campaign activity at the Consulting Associates office.

He promised to obtain the information but still had not provided anything by Monday.

Chenoweth, who was forced to refinance an unsecured $40,000 loan from West One Bank after questions about its legality had been raised, repeatedly has criticized the media for not obtaining her explanation about mounting financial irregularities involving her campaign.

“We have absolutely nothing to hide,” she told The Spokesman-Review earlier this month. “The problem is that Mr. Mauk has to defend the failed policies of the last 30 years. Rather than do that, he attacks people.

“I just say, ‘Bill Mauk, get a life.”’

Campaign finance disclosure statements show that on July 27, 1994, the Chenoweth campaign paid $675 to Eighteen Forty-Three Broadway for “office rent” of Suite 102 at 1843 Broadway. The payment was identical to ones made on Sept. 6, 1993, and Dec. 3, 1993.

But on Aug. 12, 1994, the campaign made a $2,255 payment to Consulting Associates for “office/ equipment rental” at the same location, followed by “rental” payments of $3,158 on Dec. 1, 1994, and $3,580 on Dec. 22, 1994. That totals just under $9,000 in five months.

At today’s escalated rent, the space was leased for $800 a month, according to Gary Hawk of Utility Engineering Corp., which recently rented Suite 102.

“It’s like getting goods or services from any business,” Chenoweth said in a Jan. 10 interview on KIDO radio in Boise. “Consulting Associates rented out part of their space … and part of their equipment to the campaign, and they were paid for what they billed for.”

“Was there money that I secreted and slipped here and there?” Chenoweth said in the radio interview. “No.”

Building owner Steve Cannariato declined to discuss the lease arrangement he had with Consulting Associates other than to say that he dealt only with that company, not with the Chenoweth campaign. That raises questions about the three payments the campaign made directly to the building owner.

Cannariato said Consulting Associates did not renew its lease on the office when it expired shortly after the 1994 election. And Ravenscroft notified the secretary of state’s office last Nov. 5 that Consulting Associates no longer was an active business and was liquidating.

In 1994, the Chenoweth campaign also was making $800 payments on June 30, July 18, Aug. 1, Sept. 6 and Oct. 21 to sublease the 2,400-square-foot space that Dean Sorensen had rented from Kathryn Albertson Enterprises for his unsuccessful campaign for the Republican lieutenant governor’s nomination.

That location for Chenoweth’s campaign headquarters was the showroom of a former automobile dealership across the street from the Capitol.

On Thursday, Chenoweth told the AP there was nothing wrong with maintaining two campaign offices.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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