Democratic South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn reportedly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of campaign funds to his relatives during the 2022 midterm elections.
Fox News reported that Clyburn forked over tens of thousands of dollars to a company linked to his son-in-law, as well as nearly $100,000 to his grandson, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Filings further show that Clyburn’s family received $57,500 from 49 Magnolia Blossom LLC for rent-related charges during the most recent election season. Jennifer Clyburn Reed, his daughter, is closely connected to that business.
Walter A. Reed, the spouse of Clyburn Reed, is listed as the registered agent of the limited liability firm in South Carolina corporate documents.
The longtime congressman also paid his grandson Walter A.C. Reed $94,000 in “campaign management fees” during the midterm election season, according to his papers.
While it’s legal for federal politicians to pay family members from their campaigns, ethical experts argue that doing so is immoral. In spite of this, both political parties have taken advantage of the benefit.
Reporters have reached out to Clyburn’s office for comment, but did not immediately return the request.
Since entering Congress in 1993, Clyburn has not faced a real challenge for his House seat and has easily won reelections in the 6th congressional district of the Palmetto State.
Clyburn also assisted President Joe Biden in winning South Carolina during the 2020 presidential primary, putting him on the road to the White House.
And after winning the election, Biden nominated the congressman’s daughter, Clyburn Reed, for the position of federal co-chair of the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission in 2021.
The high-profile Democrat has since come forward with an enthusiastic endorsement for a second Biden term.
“I’m all-in for President Biden,” Clyburn recently told CBS’ Robert Costa in an interview. “I think he’s demonstrated, in these two years … that he is deserving of re-election. And I do believe he will be re-elected irrespective of who the Republicans, they put up.”
Biden is rumored to launch his re-election campaign in the coming weeks, following months of speculation. According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, the president is planning to announce his intentions to run for a second term in the White House in the coming weeks, likely in February, around the State of the Union.
