A combination of Oregon taxpayers and campaign donors paid for then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and her two children to attend the annual White House Easter Egg Roll last month in Washington, D.C.
Ben Morris, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office, said Fagan attended the event in her “official capacity,” so her airfare and related expenses totaling about $1,000 were covered by the state.
Fagan’s political campaign fundraising committee picked up the cost of her kids’ flights, plus other expenses from the trip, which together topped $2,100.
Oregon’s campaign finance manual says campaign funds “may be used for expenses incurred as a public office holder if directly related to an office holder’s official duties, or for expenses incurred by the committee.” State law also says that such funds cannot be converted for personal use by any person.
Dan Meek, a Portland attorney deeply versed in Oregon’s campaign finance rules, said that while billing her kids’ airfare to the campaign is “certainly questionable and would not be allowed in other states, Oregon has massive loopholes” in its rules.
Details of the funding behind Fagan’s trip are coming under scrutiny after her resignation this month over a $10,000 a month consulting contract she signed in February with an Oregon cannabis company looking to expand in other states. Fagan, who said her $77,000 state salary was not enough “to make ends meet,” stepped down May 8 after acknowledging she broke the public’s trust and had become a distraction.
It was a stunning turn for one of Oregon’s brightest political stars, who only a month earlier had been smiling with her kids in front of the White House.
Fagan reserved four tickets for an April 9 flight to Washington, D.C., state records show. She billed Oregon taxpayers $877.80 for her own airfare, and collected another $138.25 in per diems to cover her lunch and dinner on the day of departure, plus meals for the day she flew back to Oregon, four days later.
Morris, the state spokesperson, said Fagan was “invited to the event by the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and chose to attend because the event seeks to promote public officials with young children.”
Fagan’s campaign committee, funded by political donations, picked up a $1,755.60 flight tab and another $141 in Lyft rides, $127 in personal expenses while on the trip, and a $141 meal at the airport on their way home. The committee’s campaign finance filings don’t specifically say the Alaska Airlines expense was for her children, but the airfare was precisely double her own, the transaction date was the same day she purchased her own ticket, and her expense claim shows she reserved four tickets in neighboring seats for herself, her kids and her boyfriend.
A photo from the event shows Fagan attended with her children and her boyfriend; there’s no indication the campaign or state money paid for his flight.
Fagan’s calendar shows only two meetings during the four-day trip, which she apparently attended virtually for about three hours on the morning of April 11. She and her kids flew back to Oregon the following evening.
David Elkanich, a lawyer for Fagan, said in a text message she was invited to the event because she is a statewide official with one or more children under 13 and was acting in her official capacity.
“She used her PAC to reimburse for lodging, transportation to political meetings and flights for her children. Travel for minor children is a reimbursable expense for campaign committees under both Oregon and federal law,” Elkanich said, citing a 2005 advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission that determined such campaign expenses were permissible for then U.S. Senator Chris Dodd if he was traveling to participate in a function directly connected to his official responsibilities.
Julie Parrish, a Republican consultant and former state legislator, said she believes neither the state nor Fagan’s campaign should have covered costs for the trip.
She said the Legislature should close campaign finance loopholes to prevent such spending.
“It should never have been a taxpayer-funded junket in the first place,” Parrish said. “No one compelled her to go. She got an invite and she went. Is this really an official purpose of her (campaign committee)? At the end of the day, no way. If it looks bad and smells bad, it is bad.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Fagan billed her campaign for lodging at the event, and misattributed that to agency spokesperson Ben Morris. David Elkanich, Fagan’s lawyer, said Fagan used campaign funds to pay for lodging.
–Ted Sickinger; [email protected]; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger
