New Insights from Bundy’s Latest Campaign Finance Report

Ammon Bundy’s latest campaign finance report is worth taking a closer look at, and might just shed light on some of what’s motivating his longshot bid for governor. 

In the September report, the records show that he personally loaned his campaign $10,500 — thus bringing the total amount he has loaned to his campaign to $146,000. That’s a hefty sum, especially when you see how his campaign funds are being spent.

Bundy may be violating Idaho campaign finance law with some of the expenditures. This report again shows yet another monthly payment of $1,500 to Abish-Husbondi, the company he owns. Using campaign dollars for personal financial gain violates campaign finance laws, but Bundy continues to seemingly do just that even after the scheme was exposed by several news outlets following previous campaign finance reports that raised the issue. Bundy has never shied away from breaking the law, but this ongoing violation is both brazen and an apparent challenge to the Secretary of State and others to hold Bundy’s seemingly illegal activity in account. 

It doesn’t stop at using campaign dollars for his personal finance. While it’s not uncommon for campaigns to pay lawyers, Bundy’s $5,000 expenditure to Boyles Law is curious given the recent news calling into question his $4,000 expense to a firm that represented him in a personal criminal case. It’s also worth noting that throughout his campaign, Power Marketing Consultants, a company controlled by Diego Rodriguez, his co-defendant in an ongoing lawsuit, has received tens of thousands of dollars from Bundy’s campaign for advertising services. 

Whether it’s payments to his own company, or expenses to his criminal defense attorney, Bundy’s campaign finance reports beg questions and a closer look from officials charged with preventing illegal activity.