c. 1996 Religion News Service
ROME (RNS)-Raymond Flynn, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and former Boston mayor, has avoided a potentially troubling civil lawsuit by agreeing to repay his former mayoral campaign committee $12,500 in personal expenses he acknowledges were improperly spent.
The agreement with the Massachusetts attorney general also requires Flynn’s former mayoral campaign committee to pay civil fees of $10,000 to the commonwealth for”alleged finance violations.”The money was paid by the committee on Thursday, said Flynn’s lawyer, Lloyd Macdonald.
Flynn, the Vatican envoy since 1993, admitted in the agreement to sloppy bookkeeping of receipts and expenses and failing to file proper finance reports from 1988 to 1993.
The former three-term mayor’s settlement was reached hours before a deadline set by Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, who had threatened to file a civil lawsuit seeking the funds. Flynn is under no threat of criminal charges.
Flynn repaid $3,400 of the overdue expenses in March 1994, leaving a balance of $9,100, which must be reimbursed within 90 days.
As part of the settlement, Flynn agreed that he”did not exercise active and adequate supervision over the activities”of his campaign committee and that there were”material inaccuracies”of expenditure records and other”material omissions.” Flynn and his committee acknowledged that the former mayor’s credit card was used for”expenditures which had a primarily personal purpose.”Flynn failed to reimburse the campaign for a number of expenses, including a 1991 family trip to Disney World in Florida.
Flynn”acknowledged that he and his family personally benefited from the improper use of campaign funds when the Flynn Committee paid for certain vacation travel, restaurant expenses, book purchases, telephone bills and other personal living expenses from 1989 through 1993,”Harshbarger said in a statement.
The ambassador, who has expressed interest in joining the Clinton re-election campaign, said in a statement,”I hope and pray that the conclusion of this case maintains … my reputation for honesty and integrity.” He added,”I’ve never taken a dime from anyone that I didn’t earn, never.” While Flynn reached an agreement in the campaign probe, he still has a potentially embarrassing problem relating to his activities as ambassador. A State Department investigation has recommended that he be reprimanded for mailing a letter to business and church leaders last April that federal officials said appeared to be partisan.
U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher has not acted on the recommendation.
The campaign committee probe has resulted in the indictment of Flynn’s former campaign finance director, Douglas deRusha, on charges of embezzling more than $520,000 in campaign funds from 1990 to 1994.
The investigation also ensnared Flynn’s former top aide, Joseph Fisher, who pleaded guilty Thursday to four federal charges of filing false tax returns for failing to account for $51,000 in illegal gifts.
The assistant U.S. attorney in the case said he would seek a prison term of 12 to 18 months and a fine of $3,000 to $30,000.
LJB END HEILBRONNER
