Powerful Lawmaker's Relative Linked Financially to Contractor
WASHINGTON — A political fundraising committee headed by a defense contractor has paid thousands of dollars in fees to the stepdaughter of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) at a time when the contractor has been lobbying Congress for funding.
Lewis' stepdaughter, Julia Willis-Leon, has been paid more than $42,000 by the Small Biz Tech Political Action Committee, according to campaign finance records. The PAC is led by Nicholas Karangelen, founder and president of Trident Systems Inc.
Records show the company received at least $11.7 million in earmarked funds in recent defense spending bills over which Lewis' committee has jurisdiction.
The Small Biz Tech PAC was created early last year "to establish a strong and clear voice for small technology businesses" dealing with Congress, according to its website, which features a photo of Lewis at one of its events.
PACs customarily collect money from donors and distribute it to political figures in the form of campaign contributions. But in the case of Small Biz Tech, almost one-third of the $115,350 it has reported raising was given to Lewis' stepdaughter, according to figures in its financial disclosure reports.
In fact, the payments to Willis-Leon exceeded the $15,600 total it has contributed to political candidates and other PACs.
Lewis is chairman of the House committee that -- with its Senate counterpart -- writes all federal spending bills. He is a prominent figure in the broad federal investigation into the relationships that powerful members of Congress and their senior aides have with the government contractors and lobbyists who seek to curry favor with them.
In particular, federal investigators are probing lawmakers' use of earmarking, a practice in which spending provisions are inserted into appropriations bills without the normal budget and review procedures.
Often, senior congressional aides who have helped write earmarks go to work for the lobbying firms that have sought the spending provisions, and use their contacts with their former employers to further the interests of their clients.
This revolving door -- along with the rest of the earmark system -- has become controversial because its operations are largely shielded from public view and because of the potential for improper influence over spending decisions.
A federal grand jury in California is looking into Lewis' activities.
