HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A newspaper says there are no public records to account for tens of thousands of dollars that were paid out of a top state senator's campaign fund.
The Times-Tribune of Scranton reported Sunday that it counted 533 checks for more than $188,000 written to "cash" from Sen. Robert Mellow's campaign fund since Jan. 1, 2000.
Mellow declined to reveal how the money was spent. State officials who regulate campaign financing told the newspaper that they typically do not treat small individual payments as violations.
Mellow, the Senate's Democratic leader from Lackawanna County, says he has complied with the law and that every dime was spent properly.
He says a random 2006 audit that studied six months of spending found no violations in connection with the checks.
©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
