Mississippi politics: Former Congressman Steven Palazzo fined for misuse of campaign funds

Yahoo

17-02-2025

Although he's been out of office since 2023, Former Congressman Steven Palazzo is still on the forefront of politics after he was cited for misusing campaign funds.
"The Commission found reason to believe that Steven Palazzo and Palazzo for Congress and Paul Kilgore in his official capacity as treasurer … violated (part) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, by converting campaign funds to personal use," the Federal Election Commission wrote in its conciliation agreement, which is similar to a settlement agreement.
Palazzo, who represented Mississippi's 4th Congressional District from 2011 to 2023, received notice of the fine last week, although the agreement was reached in January. He has approximately 30 days to pay the fine.
to read the conciliation agreement.
Find out what was in the initial complaint.
'I am glad this is finally over for my family, friends, and loyal supporters," Palazzo said in an email. "After five years of dealing with the lies and half-truths, we can finally move on.
"Serving as South Mississippi's Congressman will always be among my greatest honors. From my heart, thank you for the opportunity, and God bless you all.'
Carl Boyanton, who has sought the Republican nomination in the congressional primaries since 2020, filed a complaint with the FEC, questioning Palazzo's campaign spending.
Boyanton said he filed the complaint before he decided to run for Congress.
Among the spending he challenged was the congressman's expenses of $3,000 a month on rent for a campaign office that did not exist. In addition, that rent was paid to Greene Acres, a company owned by Palazzo. He also reported by Palazzo's own campaign finance reports that the congressman paid for utilities and cleaning of the nonexistent facility.
Palazzo, in his responses to Boyanton's complaint and the FEC investigation, denied he and his campaign leadership used the funds for anything other than for what they were intended.
Read the FEC general counsel's second report.
to read the FEC general counsel's first report.
The complaint was filed in January 2020, and after five years the FEC determined Palazzo was in the wrong. He was fined $13,500 in a civil penalty and as part of the settlement agreement, and agreed to reimburse his campaign committee an additional $16,500 to cover outstanding debts.
On Monday, Boyanton said in a phone interview that he was happy to see the FEC agreed with him, but he believes the punishment should have been for Palazzo to pay back every dollar that was put toward personal use.
"The fine isn't going to be enough, because it isn't going to deter people from doing it," Boyanton said. "If you're going to do the crime, do the time. You know, we put people in jail for less than what he did. It's horrible to say these people aren't held accountable."
Boyanton said he also filed a complaint with the House ethics committee, chaired by Mississippi Congressman Michael Guest, but felt the complaint was ignored since nothing apparently came of it.
But Boyanton also said he was told in a follow-up to the complaint, that the ethics committee doesn't disclose personal information, so he doesn't know for sure what happened after the complaint was filed.
"But where is the transparency," he asked. "To have the fox watching the hen house, that is what we've got with the ethics committee."
Despite his frustration with how long it took for the FEC to act and the small amount of the fine, Boyanton said he is satisfied that action was taken.
"I'm happy something happened," Boyanton said. "I don't want him to go to jail. To tell you the truth, he's actually a nice guy. I think he would have gotten reelected had he just come out and said, 'Hey, I made a mistake. I'll fix everything.' He was well-liked. It's a shame."
Former Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper defended Palazzo in the FEC complaint and proceedings.
'This was a long and difficult process for Congressman Palazzo to have to endure," Harper said. "If you read the Conciliation Agreement, you can see that the Congressman strongly states that he did not convert campaign funds to personal use, and at the end of the day, paid a modest amount for a fine for not having mileage logs for a vehicle and other technical violations.
"In addition, this allows him to pay for some campaign expenses that he wanted to see resolved. Had he fought this, it would have taken years longer and probably cost in excess of $150,000 in legal fees to hire an attorney in D.C. that specialized in FEC matters.
"After almost five long years, I recommended that he settle and bring this to an end. This doesn't diminish the fact that Congressman Palazzo worked hard and successfully to represent the 4th Congressional District for 12 years.'
Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at [e-mail]. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Ex-Mississippi Rep. Palazzo fined $30,000 for campaign fund misuse