Campaign registry to question Cooper

State Sen. Jerry Cooper will have to answer to the state Registry of Election Finance about his reported transfer of $95,000 from his campaign account to a personal account.

Registry officials said Wednesday they want Cooper to appear at their November meeting to explain his use of campaign money.

Cooper faces no criminal charges for the allegation. The six-member registry board has the power to level a maximum civil penalty of $10,000, or 10 percent of the amount, whichever is larger, according to Drew Rawlins, director of the state’s campaign finance regulatory agency.

‘To a board member they were shocked,’ said Trent Seibert, a director at the Tennessee Center for Policy Research which filed a formal complain against Cooper. ‘There was never any chance they weren’t going to investigate. It was very encouraging.’

The Registry of Election Finance declined to investigate Cooper after news of his reported money transfer became public at his federal fraud trial in June. The registry said it doesn’t investigate cases based on media reports. It takes a formal complaint from a Tennessee resident.

In addition to the Center for Policy Research, McMinnville resident Charlie Moss also submitted a formal complaint.

‘As a registered voter and citizen of Warren County, Tenn., I hereby complain about Sen. Jerry Cooper and move that action against him be taken,’ wrote Moss.

During his federal trial, IRS investigator Scott Kennedy testified that a review of Cooper’s bank records and tax returns showed he transferred $95,000 from a campaign account to a personal account between December 1999 and November 2001.

Kennedy said Cooper failed to report the money as personal income. Cooper’s attorney at the federal trial, Jerry Summers, said Cooper’s failure to report the transferred campaign money didn’t result in any unpaid tax because Cooper’s business losses more than offset any tax on that amount of money.

Seibert said registry officials plan to compile information over the next month and discuss that information at their October meeting. Seibert said that will give the registry a clear direction of how to question Cooper in November.

In 2005, the registry assessed former state Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, a $10,000 penalty for personal use of campaign funds to pay expenses related to his daughter’s wedding.