Ford: Nothing wrong with donation
A first quarter federal campaign financial report shows Ford made the contribution Jan. 25 to the Dwain Kyles Defense Fund.
Ford, who is seeking the seat Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to vacate, said the donation was legal and compared it to Republican lawmakers giving donations to the defense fund of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. A Texas prosecutor is investigating a political fund-raising committee that DeLay helped create, but the congressman has denied any legal or ethics violations.
Ford also said he has known Kyles and his father, the Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles, since childhood.
“The Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles is a pastor in Memphis, and his son in Chicago is a business owner, and there was a tragedy,” the congressman said.
Making such a contribution is “not something I ordinarily would do,” Ford told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “I don’t think he did anything wrong. It was an awful thing.”
Kyles is charged with involuntary manslaughter in a Feb. 17, 2003, incident at his nightclub. According to news accounts, 21 people were killed and dozens injured in a stampede after pepper spray was used to quell a disturbance on an upstairs dance floor.
Prosecutors contend Kyles and other defendants knew the E2 club was unsafe, overcrowded and operating without proper licenses and permits. They also have alleged the defendants “failed to maintain adequate and safe exits.”
Ford said some U.S. House Republicans have contributed to the legal defense fund of DeLay, R-Texas.
According to Public Citizen, a liberal public interest group, many Republicans have contributed thousands of dollars from political action committees to DeLay.
The Ford campaign “followed the rules,” spokeswoman Adora Andy said.
“Basically there’s been a precedent set by the Republicans,” she said. “They’ve contributed to Tom DeLay’s legal defense fund.”
Federal Election Commission spokesman Ian Stirton said FEC regulations prohibit candidates from converting campaign money to personal use.
“The standard that they use generally is, would they have incurred those expenses if they were not an office holder?” Stirton said. “And if they would have incurred those expenses anyway, well then it’s probably personal use. But if it was somehow related to the fact that they were congressmen, federal officeholder or whatever, then of course it might not be considered personal use.”
Stirton said commission members decide what is personal use on a “case-by-case basis.”
Larry Noble with the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics questioned the expenditure.
“The bottom line is that they’re not supposed to use the campaign funds for personal use of any person,” Noble said. “And so the question is whether or not providing it for somebody’s legal defense is appropriate use of a campaign fund.”