Trial gives glimpse of how much O’Donnell paid friends to work on campaigns
Witness testimony in the federal money laundering and wire fraud trial of Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell gave a glimpse at just how generous the lawmaker is with his friends — many of whom worked as his campaign staff and volunteers.
Over the course of his 2012 state senate and 2016 Sedgwick County commission campaigns, O’Donnell raised around $527,000, according to statements given in court Monday. In the absence of state campaign finance law that gives suggested compensation for workers, exactly how much people earned was left to O’Donnell’s discretion.
His former campaign manager, Dalton Glasscock, testified Tuesday that O’Donnell’s generosity is a driving force behind his political success — in part because it motivated his campaign staff and volunteers.
Candidates, he explained, typically turn to friends when they need help with their campaigns because they’re trustworthy. He described himself as a close friend of O’Donnell’s.
Glasscock himself made $2,500 a month working as O’Donnell’s campaign manager, duties of which included attending events, advising O’Donnell and executing campaign strategies, he testified.
Other friends would routinely make $200 for manning a check-in table and mingling with guests at a fundraiser. One, Colby Rankin, said he earned $100 to $200 a day for picking up trash and $10 to $15 an hour knocking on constituents’ doors. Rankin received one the of $1,000 checks that raised authorities’ suspicions about O’Donnell’s campaign spending.
A best friend of O’Donnell’s, David Jorgenson, told the FBI in an interview that he received $600 to $750 a few times for one to to five hours of work he spent creating donor spreadsheets. That friend also got $250 for walking in a parade and making some campaign signs, retired FBI Special Agent Charles Pritchett said, but received 15 checks he told the FBI he did no work for.
The December 2015 Aspen ski trip the defense contends was a bonus to friends to compensate them for previously unpaid campaign work cost O’Donnell $2,600 — more than two-thirds of which was eventually paid back to O’Donnell through checks drawn on his campaign account. Those expenses included meals, movie tickets, ski rental and lift tickets.
O’Donnell also spent more than $1,000 taking friends to see a Garth Brooks concert where he held a fundraiser, treated his pals to meals and sporting events with “good seats,” and even paid hundreds to friends who were purportedly on standby in case the campaign needed them, according to Tuesday’s testimony.
Glasscock said that while a particular person’s value to a campaign is subjective, he thinks O’Donnell overpaid some. He said he never saw Jorgenson do any campaign-related work and asked O’Donnell repeatedly what role he played.
When O’Donnell told Glasscock that Jorgenson was performing data entry work, Glasscock took him “at his word.”
“To this day, are you concerned that he (O’Donnell) was doing anything improper?” defense attorney Joshua Ney asked.
“No,” Glasscock replied.
Later, under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst, Glasscock said he thought paying a person to do nothing isn’t a good use of campaign funds.
O’Donnell is facing 23 counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering alleging he converted campaign donations meant to fund his bids for public office to his personal use. His trial, expected to last at least a week, started Monday.
Jurors are due back in court at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
This story was originally published February 26, 2019 at 7:47 PM.
