Minnesota First District Congressman Jim Hagedorn's excuse that he delegated decisions about his franked mail, printed and sent at taxpayer expense, just fell apart.
The first term Republican has been under scrutiny since Daniel Newhauser reported on August 15in the Minnesota Reformer article Congressman spent tax dollars on vendor owned by a member of his staff.
In the last episode, Star Tribune staff writers Patrick Condon and Briana Bierschbach report in Emails show U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn involved with constituent mail decisions:
E-mails between U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn and members of his congressional staff show the southern Minnesota Republican was personally involved in decisions about a high volume of publicly funded constituent mail that led to the dismissal of his chief of staff.
Hagedorn’s heavy spending on constituent mail in the first three months of the year, some of it contracted out to a company owned by a part-time staffer, added up to more than one-fifth of his entire $1.4 million annual office budget, according to Legistorm, a service that tracks congressional spending.
Hagedorn, first elected to the House in 2018 from southern Minnesota’s First District, spent more of his total office budget than any other member of Congress by the end of March.
Hagedorn’s office announced earlier this month that he had fired Peter Su, his chief of staff. Su declined a request to comment.
Hagedorn also drew scrutiny for directing printing jobs to a Texas-based company owned or partly owned by John Sample, who is also listed as a part-time paid staffer in Hagedorn’s congressional office. Sample remains on his public payroll.
Much of the rest of the work was sent to a Delaware-based company whose ownership has not been disclosed.
In a public statement after Su’s dismissal, Hagedorn said that decisions about mailings had been “fully delegated” to his chief of staff. He said he “became aware of this matter approximately two months ago,” after which he retained outside counsel to perform an independent review.
“While these relatively routine duties were delegated to my former Chief of Staff and our finance officer, I acknowledge responsibility for the oversight of my office and will continue to make any necessary management improvements,” Hagedorn said.
Hagedorn said he also advised two House committees, Administration and Ethics, of this review.
The e-mails obtained by the Star Tribune show Hagedorn, in both 2019 and early 2020, managing aspects of the constituent mail, which is known in Capitol Hill parlance as taxpayer-funded “Franked mail,” much of it in the form of postcards and letters to residents in his district.
“We should send an updated mail piece on Cambria,” he wrote on Sept. 5, 2019, to several senior office staffers. “Our successful bipartisan efforts to punish China for illegal dumping of quartz products and stealing intellectual property has helped to defend Le Sueur-based Cambria and 1,000 good-paying jobs in southern Minnesota.”
Hagedorn’s office, presented with the internal e-mails Monday, did not dispute their authenticity and declined to comment.
The texts and e-mails were shared with the Star Tribune by a former staffer in Hagedorn’s congressional office who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. Several people have left Hagedorn’s office recently, according to the staffer. Most of the e-mails and texts include Hagedorn and multiple recipients. . . .
Bryson Morgan, a lawyer who spent several years as an investigative counsel with the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, said a handbook given to every member guides how they can use their office funds. It includes language that prohibits a member from using funds in any way to financially benefit themselves or anyone with a personal relationship with them.
“I think it’s pretty clear that a member’s office should not be spending [member’s representational allowance] hiring a business that is owned by a person on the congressional staff,” Morgan said. “I think that’s a pretty clear violation of the handbook.”
Read the rest at the Star Tribune.
Hagedorn faces a rematch with veteran and teacher Dan Feehan, whom the Republican defeated in 2018 by a tiny margin. As we wrote in MN01 data points: Does Hagedorn's internal polling conducted in March still matter?, the race seems to be very tight.
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- Minnesota Reformer: MN01's Hagedorn spent tax dollars on vendor owned by a member of his staff
- MN01 data points: Does Hagedorn's internal polling conducted in March still matter?
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Photo: One of Representative Jim Hagedorn's pricy constituent mail pieces. Via the Minnesota Reformer.
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