House Democrats use campaign funds to pay family members

House Democrats Maxine Waters and James Clyburn have repeatedly used donor campaign funds to employ family members, reported Fox News Digital.

Ahead of the midterm elections, Waters' campaign sent four payments to her daughter, Karen Waters, in July and September totaling $16,000.

Over the past 20 years, Karen Waters and her company, Progressive Connections, have received $1.2 million in donor cash from Waters' committee to organize and send slate mailers.

A Federal Election Commission recently reported that Karen Waters received the funds from Citizens for Waters this quarter for "slate mailer management fees."

The mass mailers typically feature a list of candidates and guide voters on how to cast their ballots. Slate mailers are seen in California elections but are not common in federal elections.

Maxine Waters was the only federal politician to send out slate mailers during the 2020 general election, Fox News Digital reported.

Karen Waters is not the only family member to receive payments from her mother's campaign fund. The Los Angeles Times reported that Waters' campaign sent over $1 million to family members from around 1996 to 2004.

U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn (D) has also built a questionable reputation for sending campaign funds to his family members.

In August, his re-election campaign, Friends of Jim Clyburn, paid $7,500 for "office rent" to a South Carolina business. The company, which has received nearly $80,000 since March 2020, lists Clyburn's son-in-law as the registered agent, according to business records.

Friends of Jim Clyburn sent the representative's grandson, Walter A.C. Reed, a total of $17,500 from July to September for managing his grandfather's reelection campaign. Since October 2021, Reed has received over $75,000 in donor funds from Clyburn's campaign.

One of Clyburn's daughters, Angela Hannibal, was paid over $20,000 between April 2018 and October 2019 for canvassing, truck rentals, catering, and voter outreach.

In addition, the campaign dished out another $70,000 between 2010 and 2012 to Angela Hannibal's husband, Cecil, for community outreach and travel reimbursements.

Neither Waters' nor Clyburn's campaigns immediately replied to a request for comment, reported Fox News Digital.