Long-time California campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee not only “nearly wiped out” Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) campaign funds, but it appears she has “wiped out” Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) war chest as well, Politico’s Jonathan Allen and John Bresnahan report.
“I was wiped out too, we don’t know how much,” said Feinstein, who is up for reelection next year. According to Feinstein, the company headed by Durkee handled her campaigns in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2006, and her gubernatorial campaign. “I trusted her implicitly.”
Durkee, arrested this month on mail fraud charges for allegedly using money from campaign funds she managed for personal expenses, was ordered to be released on $200,000 bond on Friday.
Sen. Feinstein is the latest victim in what is amounting to one of the largest finance scandals in California history, one that has already ensnarled a California state assemblyman, Jose Solorio (D), and Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA).
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Igor Bobic
Igor Bobic is the assistant editor of Talking Points Memo, helping oversee the site's coverage of politics and policy in Washington. While originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Igor feels best at home on the beaches of Southern California. He can be reached at igor@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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