Report: Bachmann used taxpayer funds for tea party rally
WASHINGTON - Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann spent $3,407 of taxpayer funds allotted to her congressional office to help rent a sound system for a tea party-backed rally against President Obama's health care bill in 2009, according to a report this morning from Roll Call.
House rules say taxpayer money cannot be used for strictly political events, although the funds can be used for press conferences, which is how the event was described.
However, the newspaper reports that no questions were asked during the Nov. 9, 2009 event which, "opened with a prayer, the national anthem and a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance."
Fellow Reps. Steve King (R-IA) and Todd Akin (R-MO) also contributed $3,407 toward the rental of the sound system at the same event.
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Roll Call says the rally is not the only questionable use of taxpayer funds by Bachmann's congressional office.
Last year, her office briefly hired Guy Short as a "senior advisor." Short had served as chief of staff to former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) before she was defeated in 2008.
Short was paid $5,000 for one month. He then went on to found a firm called C&M Strategies, which has been paid about $150,000 to provide fundraising consulting services for Bachmann's campaign and political action committee.
Bachmann spokesman Doug Sachtleben told the paper the expenses were legitimate.
"The expenditures you've highlighted were all consistent with the official responsibilities of the Congresswoman and her staff on behalf of the people of Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District," Sachtleben said.