Durham fined $10,000 for incorrect PAC disclosures

For the second time in a week, a state watchdog agency fined expelled lawmaker Jeremy Durham, pushing his total penalties owed for various violations to more than a half million dollars.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance voted Tuesday to impose two fines totaling $10,000 for failing to accurately report campaign contributions and expenditures to Durham’s political action committee.

The fine comes on top of more than $495,000 in penalties already assessed.

In June, the registry fined Durham a record $465,500 related to more than 300 violations of campaign finance law outlined in an expansive audit.

He is appealing the fine in front of an administrative law judge.

Last week, the state Ethics Commission fined Durham $30,000 for not fully disclosing financial investments.

While discussing the latest fine, registry members scoffed at excuses provided in a letter by Durham’s wife, Jessica, who served as a treasurer for the political action committee.

“I must first admit I was merely a ‘ceremonial treasurer,’” Jessica Durham said in the Oct. 20 letter.

In the letter, Jessica Durham says several campaign reporting mistakes highlighted in an earlier audit of her husband’s various campaign committees were due to “human error.”

Jeremy Durham used the same excuse in his official reply to the registry’s audit, which found he violated campaign finance law hundreds of times.

Jessica Durham points out that any mistakes have since been corrected, while asking the board for leniency.

“In an effort to promote public transparency, all reports are now 100% accurate,” she wrote, adding that Durham’s PAC has also since been closed.

Despite her pleas, the registry unanimously voted in favor of imposing two $5,000 fines against the Durhams for the errors found in the PAC’s reporting.

Each violation by the PAC could have been assessed a $10,000 penalty.

“What was in the PAC wasn’t their money,” said registry member Tom Lawless. “I just have a philosophical problem with people doing that.”

Beyond the campaign finance and ethics issues, Durham is the subject of ongoing state and federal investigations.

Last week two lawmakers told the USA Today Network - Tennessee they were interviewed by agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as part of a criminal investigation regarding Durham.

Durham was expelled from the legislature in 2016, after a Tennessean investigation revealed he sent multiple women late-night lewd text messages from his phone. The inquiry spurred a sixmonth investigation from the state attorney general, which concluded Durham had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with at least 22 women while he was a lawmaker.

Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.