House Republicans' Audit Shows Treasurer Stole at Least $800,000

"I've gone through this issue with my own campaign, and frankly, getting to the bottom of it and understanding how it happened and how to correct it will be well worth the investment," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

In 2003, a former campaign staffer for Boehner pleaded guilty to embezzling $617,000, which had been the largest political embezzlement in this decade. A staffer for the late Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.) pleaded guilty in 1993 to stealing $1 million from the former senator's 1992 presidential campaign, an incident believed to mark the biggest political fraud case ever uncovered.

The NRCC's audit and Justice Department and FEC records, paint a picture of an alleged crime spree that started small and grew over the years as Ward became a more trusted employee.

As deputy treasurer in 2001 and 2002, Ward used wire transfers -- on which no other official was required to sign off -- to divert money to his personal accounts, according to Robert Kelner, the lawyer with Covington & Burling who oversaw the investigation. "It escalated over time," Kelner said.

In early 2003, Ward was promoted to treasurer, and soon thereafter, the Justice Department said, he began diverting as much as $72,000 to his home mortgage payments.

Most of his alleged embezzlement took place with the President's Dinner committees, which were accounts for the annual NRCC-NRSC gala fundraising dinner, featuring President Bush as the guest of honor. Ward often left those accounts open with the FEC and banks long after the events had been held.

FEC records show the committee for the 2002 President's Dinner -- held in June of that year -- remained active until August 2004. In 2003, Ward switched that committee's business address to his home on Massachusetts Avenue in Bethesda.

Kelner said Ward sometimes diverted money from the NRCC into the President's Dinner committees, and then to his personal accounts, and other times from the NRCC into other PACs he controlled.

Ward stepped down as NRCC treasurer last summer. Kelner said the last misappropriation by Ward occurred in October, while on the NRCC payroll as a consultant.