After the 2022 election, California Representative Eric Swalwell might get in trouble for his extravagant spending on child care.
During the heat of the campaign, politicians can use campaign funds to pay for child care, but they must stop doing so after the election is over. An ethics watchdog group has claimed that Swalwell breached that requirement by spending around $17,000 for child care between November 14, 2022, and the end of the year.
According to Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, it would be unethical for the candidate to use campaign funds to cover childcare expenses that arose after the election but were not directly related to campaigning. This is what Arnold told the Washington Free Beacon.
Difficult questions arise when considering whether or not a candidate may utilize campaign cash for their benefit. If Swalwell’s wife isn’t available to monitor the kids while he’s out for campaign activities, the Federal Election Commission advised his “Swalwell for Congress” group in July 2022 that it might pay for child care.
The FEC stated that his committee could not pay for his travel if it was related to another campaign, at the request of a “foreign government,” or in his role as a member of Congress and not as a candidate.
To satisfy any promise, responsibility, or expenditure of a person that would exist regardless of the candidate’s election campaign or obligations as a federal officeholder is considered “personal use” under the Act and Commission rules, the FEC noted.
The day before the 2022 midterm elections, on November 7th, Swalwell’s committee spent $1,120 on child care, according to FEC reports.
The Federal Election Commission says that was the last time a political group should have spent money on childcare. The campaign, however, spent over $17,500 on “kid care for campaign events” between November 14 and December 30.
Fox News revealed that in the 2021–2022 election season, Swalwell’s campaign spent over $500,000 on limos, flights, and hotels in Paris and Miami Beach, in addition to childcare costs.
Observers have voiced worry about Swalwell’s campaign spending before.
The controversial lawmaker got into trouble in 2021 for diverting donor monies for his expenses. At that period, Swalwell used campaign cash to preload Starbucks gift cards and paid a family member more than $17,000 to watch his children.