Watkins’ father says FEC probing 2018 donations as Kansas congressman’s legal woes grow
The Federal Election Commission is examining campaign contributions that Rep. Steve Watkins’ father funneled through the congressman’s sisters and others during the 2018 campaign.
It’s the latest in a long string of legal headaches for the freshman Kansas Republican, who is also facing a voter fraud investigation in Shawnee County. The fraud allegations prompted an independent watchdog group to file an ethics complaint this week.
The FEC’s inquiry highlights the role family money played in Watkins’ rise from political novice to congressman, as well as the shaky ground the Republican is on as he heads into his first re-election campaign.
Steve Watkins Sr., a Topeka physician and the congressman’s father, confirmed Friday that the FEC is looking into thousands of dollars he steered into his son’s campaign through other donors, including his daughters and a homebuilder.
“I had no idea that was improper,” Watkins Sr. told The Star in a brief interview Friday.
The Star reported in December that the freshman Kansas Republican’s campaign had racked up thousands in legal bills’ since his 2018 election — roughly $30,000 as of the latest FEC filing — and that multiple sources said it was related to a pending FEC matter, a claim the congressman’s campaign has never disputed.
The elder Watkins, who first confirmed the inquiry to Politico, said his understanding is that what the FEC is doing isn’t an investigation “at this point.” He said didn’t know the exact terminology for describing the agency’s actions.
He said he self-reported the errors he made, which he called inadvertent , and that the FEC hasn’t given him any indication of when it might conclude the matter.
“They’re evaluating that now but they’re not doing a separate investigation of that,” Watkins Sr. said. “They’re just evaluating the voluntary report that we submitted after we found out that what I did was wrong.”
$10K to a D.C. law firm
A spokeswoman for the FEC said the agency is prohibited from disclosing information about enforcement matters when asked about the elder Watkins’ comments.
Watkins’ campaign spokesman Jim Joice did not directly comment on whether the congressman’s legal bills were related to the matter involving his father.
But he did emphatically state that neither the congressman “nor his campaign committee are under FEC investigation.”
Joice also poked at Watkins’ primary opponent, Treasurer Jake LaTurner, citing the campaign’s internal polling that shows the incumbent Republican leading ahead of the August primary for Kansas’ 2nd congressional district, which includes Lawrence and Topeka.
“Congressman Watkins will continue focusing on what has made him successful and built a nearly 30 point lead against his opponent - standing with President Trump, defending conservative values, and battling the political swamp.”
LaTurner’s spokeswoman Kara Zeyer pointed to the multiple inquiries facing Watkins and said “his sloppy and unethical behavior is jeopardizing our representation in Congress.”
In addition to his campaign’s legal spending, Watkins’ official office in November paid $10,620 in taxpayer money to Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC, a Washington-based law firm, for a “non-technology service contract,” according to a House document that lists expenses of each congressional office.
Watkins’ office did not comment on why it was paying a law firm and whether it was related to any of the already publicized legal matters facing the congressman.
Watkins Sr. said he did not coordinate with his son’s campaign and emphasized the donations were refunded.
“No donations were truly made because money was all refunded from the campaign,” Watkins Sr. said.
Federal law allows individuals to donate a combined $5,600 for primary and general elections.
Watkins’ 2018 campaign refunded $36,000 in donations, including a $10,800 contribution from Dennis Sumner Construction Company in Topeka and individual donations from Sumner, Kathryn Sumner (who lives at the same address) and Diane Watkins.
Reached by phone last year, Sumner hung up when asked about the refund of his contributions. He did not immediately return a phone call Friday.
The donations are a small fraction of the elder Watkins’ investment in the 2018 race. Watkins Sr. steered $765,000 into the Kansans Can Do Anything PAC, an entity he set up to support his son’s candidacy.
Ethics complaint
According to multiple sources, Watkins was living with his parents when he changed his voter registration address to a Topeka UPS Store. That decision has led to allegations that he voted improperly in last year’s Topeka City Council election.
At the request of Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether Watkins committed voter fraud.
Sarah Powell, a spokeswoman for Kagay, said Friday that the sheriff’s office has completed the initial phase of its investigation. The sheriff’s office is following up on additional questions based on the DA’s request before Kagay makes a decision on whether or not to charge Watkins with a crime.
The local investigation remains pending, but the allegations have prompted Americans For Public Trust to file a complaint against Watkins with the Office of Congressional Ethics, the first step toward launching a congressional ethics inquiry if the office deems the complaint to have merit.
The group, which launched last year, is officially nonpartisan, but its staff is primarily Republican, including its legal counsel Adam Laxalt, the former Republican attorney general of Nevada.
“If he in fact influenced an election improperly by voting in the wrong district, that’s a big deal,” Laxalt said.
Laxalt said he was unaware that Watkins was facing a primary challenge. He said regardless of their partisan leanings Americans “don’t expect a sitting congressman to commit felonies.”
Watkins’ office did not immediately respond to questions about the complaint.
The Wichita Eagle’s Jonathan Shorman reported from Topeka.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 11:01 AM.
