News

July 2, 2008

Barletta says disputed $65K a personal loan

Hazleton mayor says he’s repaying loan from ’02 U.S. rep. race with line of credit.

By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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HAZLETON – Republican congressional candidate Lou Barletta said Wednesday a $65,000 loan being questioned by his political opponents is a personal loan that he is repaying.

Barletta, the Hazleton mayor, disputed the allegations made Feb. 8 by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that the loan was illegal. The DCCC filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission regarding the loan.

“I borrowed the money from the bank to pay off campaign debt,” Barletta said. “I will tell you this, the bank did not loan my campaign $65,000. I am repaying the loan with a line of credit. I owe the money. It was a personal loan.”

The DCCC, in its complaint, said the loan made in 2002 during Barletta’s first congressional run was listed on campaign reports 22 times over the last six years. No payment had been made on the loan, the DCCC maintained.

DCCC spokeswoman Carrie James said Barletta’s latest explanation does not prove anything.

“After nearly two weeks, Lou Barletta has finally found a story, but what he hasn’t found is any proof,” James said. “When is he going to file the 22 amendments and provide any sort of documentation that shows that this loan doesn’t break the law?”

Barletta originally called it a clerical error. He said his spokesman, David Millner, was speaking in broad terms and really did not know if it was a clerical error.

“It may not have been,” Barletta said. “We may have felt that the loan should be listed because I used it to pay off campaign debt.”

Barletta lost the 2002 race for the 11th Congressional District seat to Democratic incumbent Paul Kanjorski by 22,000 votes.

The state is set for a repeat showdown in the fall because Barletta is unopposed in the Republican primary while Kanjorski, a 12-term incumbent, is the lone candidate on the Democratic ballot.

Kurt Shotko, an Independent, plans to mount a third-party challenge.

Kanjorski spokesman Ed Mitchell declined comment and deferred questions to the DCCC.

“They are the ones who raised this issue, not us.”

Barletta called the allegations incredulous.

“Who would believe that a bank would loan any money to a candidate that just lost. No bank in the world would do that,” he said.

An FEC spokesman confirmed the agency had received the complaint and said it will not comment until a decision is made.

If the FEC determines the loan was erroneously listed on campaign reports, the reports can be amended, Barletta said.

The DCCC has issued several press releases urging Barletta to explain the loan.

Barletta said he was waiting to hear from the FEC.

“We still haven’t heard anything from the FEC,” Barletta said.

Barletta called the entire issue “politics as usual,” something he said will stop should he be elected.

“I really don’t think they want this campaign to be about ethics,” Barletta said. “I don’t think that’s where they want this to go.”

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