But these accounts, known as constituent services funds, rarely end up helping residents with urgent needs and are occasionally used by politicians to promote themselves, the new analysis says. Constituent services funds have long been controversial in the District. Eight of the D.C. Council’s 13 members and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) maintain constituent services funds. In a letter to Public Citizen, the Office of Campaign Finance defended how it regulates constituent services funds. Public Citizen identified instances where constituent services spending seemed like campaign spending.

Source: Washington Post March 26, 2019 18:22 UTC