cross-posted from Daily Kos.
I started to write that pretty much the worst thing that I could imagine in Orange County Democratic politics, short of someone’s death, has happened today. That isn’t quite true, though. What has been reported today is worse than anything I have imagined about our party — and I have imagined plenty.
One’s first tendency may be to hide it. I think that one instead faces it.
I hate to give the conservative-libertarian Orange County Register any hits, but they are the ones with the story, so click away:
A prominent Democratic campaign treasurer who works for federal, state and O.C. lawmakers including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Rep. Loretta Sanchez and state Assemblymen Lou Correa and Jose Solorio has been arrested by the FBI on suspicion of mail fraud, The Orange County Register has learned.
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek confirmed Saturday afternoon that Kinde Durkee of Burbank-based Durkee and Associates, was arrested by the FBI on a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento. Special Agent Steve Dupre of the bureau’s Sacramento office said she was arrested in connection with her position as a campaign treasurer.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” absolutely; I make no conclusions from this arrest. But this story is huge. Kinde Durkee was the one person always represented to me, since entering Orange County politics a little less than five years ago, as trustworthy and incorruptible. We will be reeling from this arrest alone, let alone the details, for a long time.
Federal Election Commission records show that Durkee is the treasurer for Feinstein and Sanchez, who could not be reached Saturday. California Secretary of State records show she currently serves as the treasurer for at least 115 state-level committees. Those committees include campaign accounts for Solorio, D-Santa Ana; Assemblymen Gilbert Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, and Roger Hernandez, D-Baldwin Park; State Sens. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance and Curren Price, D-Los Angeles; Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian; and former Orange County lawmaker Tom Umberg.
Durkee also oversaw the political-action committees of the Democratic Party of Orange County and the Democratic Foundation of Orange County, among others
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Another day, I’ll talk about what one expects from a committee Treasurer — who is not the person you elect or appoint as Treasurer for your campaign or PAC but the professional with whom your Treasurer does business.
Today, the earthquake is still going on. We crouch, with the ground shaking, hoping that we survive with the least possible damage. “Terrible” barely begins to describe it. As a Democrat active in, among other things, the DPOC, I feel like I have been kicked in the teeth. I can only imagine how the officeholders listed above feel.
After reading this, I have to ask, why in the hell do CA Dem campaigns pay exorbitant fees to third-party operators like Durkee to manage their finances? And why, after repeated warnings and investigations, didn’t they drop her firm like a hot potato?
Campaign managers I know who’ve worked in other states say this arrangment is fairly unique.
As complex and confusing as election finance laws may be, they can’t be worse than dealing with taxes if you run a small business – as my husband and I do. We have neither the time nor the expertise to do our own returns, yet unlike Dem campaigns in this state, we have literally thousands of competent, licensed professional business accountants we can chose from.
It’s insane there isn’t more competition for this work. Yet candidates are told Durkee “is the only game in town”.
CA consultants like their monopolies. Maybe this scandal is the exactly the thing we need to shake things up.
I file this one under, let’s look further. Kinde Durkee is in fact innocent right now. It is possible that after a full investigation and the criminal process runs its course, I will have a different viewpoint, but for now, I only want a larger look at what’s happening. Judgment later.
Kinde has handled all my campaigns, our club’s resportng and my 527, SCV Clean Money. I can’t imagine this could be true. She’s always been wonderful I trust her and never have had any indication of any wrong doing.
democracy is imperiled just by the presence of huge sums of money in campaign coffers, even when no laws are officially broken. the whole process is functionally corrupt, and a huge temptation for those at the center of money flows. it’s not worth it.
I read a story about this yesterday, and the mail fraud she’s accused of did not seem to relate to her work as a treasurer. The details in that story were that she’d solicited donations by mail and never given the money to the campaigns and candidates they were supposed to be for. One example was a cruise that was supposed to have celebrities and raise money for the Obama campaign. The celebrities never materialized and the Obama campaign said they never got the money. So, while the work Durkee was doing for most candidates may not have had anything to do with fundraising, the fraud charges do.
On another topic that’s been raised several times: politics is an insider’s game. I’ve tried to break in as a consultant, only to hit the most solid brick wall of my long professional career. I do advertising. Have done for a long time, and I’m pretty good at it. I’m also a political activist. So I thought I’d combine my experience and my passion. I also thought I could do some good because, honestly, most political advertising is FAR below commercial standards. I got in to a couple of grassroots campaigns. Did some good work. Helped elect one congressman. And that was as far as I could get.
Others I know have had the same experience. It doesn’t seem to matter what results you’ve achieved or how good you are. It’s all about who you’ve worked for and who you know. So the same people get the work over and over and over again. The congressman I worked for replaced the staff that got him elected with ones more senior officials in his caucus recommended. Many of these professional political consultants rake in huge fees from one losing campaign after another. But they still get recommended by the people who matter. Makes no sense to me.
TPM is reporting tonight that Durkee has admitted to embezzling her client’s money for years.
Here’s a link to the FBI complaint: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/d…
This story:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…
was bound to happen with Eric at the helm of the LA County Democratic Party.