Chenoweth Revelation Well-Timed She Announced Unreported Loan Just Days After Deadline For Filing Ethics Charges

When Rep. Helen Chenoweth revealed an unreported loan this week, it was just days after a cutoff for filing ethics charges before the election.

Members of Congress cannot face ethics charges 60 days or closer to an election. The moratorium is designed to prevent politically motivated charges from piling up during the campaign season, said Ted Van Der Meid, chief counsel for the House Ethics Committee.

“There would be no time to clear a member,” said Van Der Meid.

The cutoff started Friday.

On Monday, the Republican lawmaker announced that she had taken a $50,000 loan from a former client, Joe Krygoski, in 1994 to help her buy a condominium in Alexandria, Va. She hadn’t disclosed the loan on financial disclosure forms required by the House in 1994 or in 1995.

Falsifying or concealing required information on the forms can subject a member of Congress to ethics charges or prosecution.

Chenoweth’s challenger, Democrat Dan Williams, said Tuesday, “I’m sure she did not want an ethics complaint filed prior to the election.”

He accused Chenoweth of showing “an utter disregard for what the law requires.”

But Khris Bershers, Chenoweth’s spokeswoman, said, “The 60-day cutoff is news to me. That wasn’t even a consideration.”

She said Chenoweth waited to disclose the loan until she had all the documents about the issue to release. “She wanted to make sure she could answer every question that might be posed before she came forward with the information.”

Chenoweth said Tuesday that she didn’t disclose the loan because she thought it fell under an exemption for home mortgages.

“There was a misunderstanding of the regulations,” she told listeners to a Boise radio show.

The loan, at 7 percent interest, was to be paid back when a legal case in which Chenoweth represented Krygoski was settled. Chenoweth said she expected a $50,000 bonus from Krygoski upon conclusion of the case, so the loan was in a sense an advance.

The loan was renegotiated last Friday to require that Chenoweth pay it off when she sells the condo or when the lawsuit is resolved, whichever comes first.

Chenoweth represented Krygoski before she was elected, when she was a partner in a consulting firm called Consulting Associates.

The case involved the termination of Krygoski’s construction contract at a Michigan missile base. He sued the federal government to challenge the termination.

Chenoweth on Monday said she filed amended versions of her ‘94 and ‘95 financial disclosure forms.

Williams called a press conference Tuesday to say he believes Chenoweth’s financial missteps have rendered her unfit to serve in office. She has submitted more than a dozen amendments to her various campaign and congressional disclosure forms in the past two years, and Idaho Democrats have three pending complaints against her with the Federal Election Commission. “

Helen Chenoweth’s repeated misrepresentations, questions and evasions have risen to such a level that her credibility is at issue,” Williams said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

The following fields overflowed: KEYWORD = FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE, CONGRESSIONAL BYLINE = Betsy Z. Russell Staff writer The Associated Press contributed to this report.