Ethics Charges Filed on Houston State Rep. John Davis

While I was at the gym, the muse assistant did a little detective work for me. I promised you info on John Davis' (Republican incumbent, HD-129) American Express expenditures. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, he listed $43,243.78 in American Express expenditures on his Texas Ethics Commission Campaign Finance Reports with "miscellaneous expenditures" as the explanation of what the expenses were for.

Something seems real odd here. I read the Texas Ethics Commission rules and here's what that says:

§ 20.59. Reporting Expenditure by Credit Card

A report of a political expenditure by credit card must identify the vendor who receives payment from the card company.

So, it's not OK to do this:

American Express P.O. Box 650448 Dallas TX 75265-0448 20060101 $1,805.69 Miscellaneous expenses
American Express P.O. Box 650448 Dallas TX 75265-0448 20060121 $1,715.23 Miscellaneous expenses
American Express P.O. Box 650448 Dallas TX 75265-0448 20050207 $2,024.73 Miscellaneous expenses
American Express P.O. Box 650448 Dallas TX 75265-0448 20060306 $1,412.25 Miscellaneous expenses

(Read the dates like this: 20060101 is 1/1/2006.)

These are just a few of the many AmEx items John Davis reported in this same way. Seriously, they add up to $43,243.78. (See one of the reports with the AmEx problem here.) I'm VERY confident this type of thing isn't ignored by the Texas Ethics Commission (once they find out). The muse assistant did a little more digging and found out that the Texas Ethics Commission filed against judicial candidate Robert Francis in July 2006 for reporting $8,644 to American Express without identifying the vendor who received payment. Francis' Campaign Finance Report is here. Do a search on that form for American Express and you'll see seven expenditures. You can see the Texas Ethics Commission Oder and Resolution of this case here. Their findings and conclusions were:

1. Each campaign finance report filed by a candidate is required to include the full name and address of the payee, date and purpose of the payment for each political expenditure exceeding $50 aggregate in the reporting period. ELEC. CODE § 254.031(a)(3).

2. A report of a political expenditure by credit card must identify the vendor who receives payment from the card company. Ethics Commission Rules § 20.59.

3. The respondent did not disclose the actual payee of the political expenditure; but instead disclosed the name of the credit card.

4. Therefore, there is credible evidence of a violation of section 254.031(a)(3) of the Election Code and section 20.59 of the Ethics Commission Rules.

The sanction was:
After considering the seriousness of the violation described under Sections III and IV, including the nature, circumstances, and consequences of the violation, and after considering the sanction necessary to deter future violations, the commission imposes a $700 civil penalty for the violation described under Sections III and IV.

Will John Davis be held to the rules of the Texas Ethics Commission? Well, guess what. Ethics charges have been filed against him and there will be a hearing in September.

I'm not done with this yet. There's more. Besides the AmEx charges. Besides the boots. Pop more popcorn.