cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/24651024
A West Texas pastor who used his parish’s resources to campaign for office and several pastors from other churches who donated to him were fined after the state’s ethics commission determined that each violated election law.
The fines, some of which were issued last month, are the latest sanction from the commission following reporting from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, which revealed that three churches donated to the campaign of Scott Beard, founding pastor at Fountaingate Fellowship church, despite state and federal prohibitions on such activity.
Beard, who was fined $3,500, showed a “lack of good faith” in accepting the donations and in posting campaign signs on church property for his unsuccessful Abilene City Council race despite the commission’s warnings against doing so, it found.
“Because the respondent committed extensive corporate contribution violations in defiance of the applicable law, a substantial penalty is required,” the commission wrote about Beard. He did not respond to a request for comment.
[Drawing from a church fund set aside for personal use comes] after the ethics commission on Dec. 21, 2023, ordered Dewey Hall, pastor of Fountaingate Merkel Church, to pay $400 for donating from church coffers to Beard’s campaign. In an interview, Hall said that he does not believe in the separation of church and state, but that his church would not donate to a political candidate again.
Wow, shocker. But of course, his church retains their tax-exempt status, because why bother doling out actual punishments?
An absolute slap on the wrist.
The total inappropriate donations to his (failed) campaign was $800, the sentencing guidelines state “up to $5,000 or triple the amount at issue, whichever is greater” to ensure the fine outweighs whatever they might gain, so it actually seems pretty reasonable in this case.
