Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), who faces major scrutiny for office overspending on ethically questionable expenses, is still on pace to overspend his official budget by year's end, according to disbursement records released today.
His office's expenses include an additional $10,000 paid to a company owned by one of his staffers, which has raised concern from ethics watchdogs.
In the first quarter, Hagedorn's office paid more than $60,000 for printing and reproduction to Invocq Technologies. According to the Minnesota Reformer, Invocq is owned at least partially by part-time Hagedorn staffer John Sample. The office's second quarter disclosures, released today, include an additional $10,000 payment to Invocq, dated Feb. 25. The office paid another $41,000 to the company last September.
In June, Hagedorn fired his chief of staff, Peter Su, over "irregular spending," according to a Daily Caller report. The congressman has since hired an attorney, ostensibly in anticipation of a House Ethics investigation into his office's spending.
In the first quarter, Hagedorn's office disclosed that they had spent 39.8 percent of their annual budget in just three months. In the second quarter, the office disclosed they'd used another 23 percent of their total budget (some of the office's expenses reported in the second quarter disbursement books are first quarter expenses).
If the office continues to report similar levels of expenses as reported in the second quarter, it will exceed its annual allowance. In the event that a member overspends, he or she is personally responsible for re-paying that money. Any unspent office funds, meanwhile, are returned to the U.S. Treasury.
