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Tom DeLay is accused of wrong-doing because his wife and daughter worked for him and were paid $500,000 over the past four years.
First of all, is this illegal? It is not:
And Thursday’s Washington Post quoted a lawyer who said that under federal election rules, “It’s clearly legal to pay relatives provided they provide services at the going rate.”
Is it unusual? It is not. The NY Times states that other members of Congress employ relatives on their campaigns:
Several members of Congress, Republican and Democratic alike, have employed relatives on their campaigns…
$500,000 sounds like a lot. But over four years it’s $62,500 per year per person, which is decent money, but not an unusual amount for someone to make.
Given that working with relatives is legal and common practice in Congress, this does not appear to be an abuse of power or position.
