Ethics panel investigates Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign: Report

The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating alleged "improprieties" in Michele Bachmann's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, according to the Daily Beast's John Avlon.

From the Daily Beast report:

Federal investigators are now interviewing former Bachmann campaign staffers nationwide about alleged intentional campaign-finance violations. The investigators are working on behalf of the Office of Congressional Ethics, which probes reported improprieties by House members and their staffs and then can refer cases to the House Ethics Committee.

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Former staffers tell The Daily Beast that investigators have allegedly asked about allegations of improper transfer of funds and under-the-table payments actions by Bachmann’s presidential campaign, specifically in relation to the campaign’s national political director, Guy Short, and Bachmann’s onetime Iowa campaign chairman, state Sen. Kent Sorenson. Questions directly about Bachmann, they said, have been primarily focused on what she knew about those men’s actions and when she knew it.

William McGinley, Bachmann’s campaign counsel, denied any allegation of misconduct.

“There are no allegations that the congresswoman engaged in any wrongdoing,” McGinley told the Daily Beast. “We are constructively engaged with the OCE and are confident that at the end of their review the OCE board will conclude that Congresswoman Bachmann did not do anything inappropriate.”