Stephen Broden: “I’ve Got Proof That Eddie Bernice Johnson Directly, Illegally Steered Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Scholarship Funds To Her Relatives”

Stephen Broden

The conservative Republican, who is running against incumbent Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) in Texas' 30th Congressional District, writes on his website: "Our campaign has received copies of letters sent by Eddie Bernice Johnson in 2006 in which she directed the CBC Scholarship Foundation to have scholarship monies for her own grandchildren and other relatives [who did not live or study in the congressional district, as required by Congressional Black Caucus Foundation rules] paid out by CBC via personal checks made payable directly to her grandchildren and great-nephews. In one letter she requests that for a non-family member the scholarship check be payable to and sent to the college [per the CBCF rules], but for her relatives that the checks be directly paid to her family members."

He continues about the liberal Democrat: "Contrary to Johnson's statement in the Dallas Morning News on September 3rd that she has not 'dwelled on figuring out how to give my grandchildren $1,000 a year' she apparently has done exactly that. Congresswoman Johnson not only abused the CBC scholarship fund program by awarding scholarships to ineligible family members instead of deserving District 30 students -- she made sure that the money went right to their wallets. District 30 residents deserve better leadership in Washington. Eddie Bernice Johnson has violated the voters’ trust and cheated the dreams of our outstanding young students."

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson

The Dallas Morning News separately received said documents. The newspaper writes: "Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson apparently asked the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to send scholarship checks directly to her two grandsons and two great-nephews, rather than to their colleges.Johnson has insisted repeatedly that she left scholarship decisions to aides. But two letters she sent the foundation from 2006 undermine claims that she wasn't involved in obtaining $31,000 for her relatives and two other ineligible recipients. Neither her aides nor the foundation responded to repeated requests to discuss the letters, which were obtained separately by The Dallas Morning News and by Johnson's GOP challenger, Stephen Broden, who released them Tuesday. But the letters suggest a far more direct role for the Dallas Democrat than she acknowledged in the last week after revelations by The News that she awarded at least 23 scholarships to her relatives and the children of a top staffer – in violation of the foundation's nepotism and residency rules."

The newspaper adds: "Officials at the House ethics committee and the Office of Congressional Ethics, which also looks into allegations of wrongdoing by U.S. House members, have declined to say whether Johnson's actions will be investigated."

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