“Roll Call Newspaper reported yesterday that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) stopped conducting independent audits of its finances the same year that Tom Reynolds took the helm as the Chairman of the organization.  Reynolds released a statement saying that, “It was my understanding that throughout my tenure as NRCC Chairman audits were performed on a regular basis.  At no point in time were any red flags raised about those audits.  It now appears over an extended period of time a long-serving professional staff member may have put together an elaborate scheme resulting in financial irregularities that are currently under review.  I fully support this investigation in an attempt to uncover the truth.” 

“The facts are not on Mr. Reynolds’ side.  A cursory look at the NRCC filings show that from 2001-2003 the NRCC under Rep. Tom Davis spent $64,000 on various accounting expenses, including audits by Deloitte & Touche.  During Tom Reynolds’ tenure the NRCC’s only expense to Deloitte & Touche was for $2,000 and not one payment was logged as audit expenses during the entire time period.  Roll Call reports that Republican sources say that the committee has not had an audit since 2003. 

“Fiscal irresponsibility aside, this lack of oversight raises several questions with regard to criminal conduct.  Generally, lenders will request an audit before granting loans.  The NRCC received $11,000,000 in loans during Tom Reynolds’ tenure and there is currently an FBI investigation as to whether audits were conducted and if the NRCC, under Reynolds’ leadership, presented fraudulent material in order to obtain loans.

“This is not the first time Reynolds has attempted to abscond from a scandal by blaming others.  In 2006, Congressman Mark Foley attempted to engage in pedophilia with a 16 year old congressional page.  Instead of taking action when he heard about “odd, but not explicit” emails (as Reynolds, himself, described them in his 2006 TV ad) from a congressman to a 16 year old boy, Reynolds casually passed the information along to “his supervisor,” then House Speaker Dennis Hastert.  “With the Foley scandal Tom blamed his supervisor and with the NRCC scandal, Tom is blaming his subordinate?  Does Tom Reynolds ever accept responsibility for his poor leadership or does he just pass the buck?” stated Powers for Congress Campaign Manager, John Gerken.  “Western New Yorkers deserve better than this.  They deserve real leadership and accountability in Washington, DC, not a Congressman embroiled in scandal.”