Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) appears to have funneled over $60,000 in campaign funds into childcare, according to a report based on his Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
Warnock’s campaign, according to the filings, spent a total of $61,959.40 for items listed as “childcare” — with several payments going directly to specific childcare providers and a number of payments going to an organization called “Bright Start Nanny Service.” Bright Start is listed online as an employment agency that provides full service child care.
While the FEC does allow payments for childcare to come from campaign funds, that usually refers to single payments for specific events — and Warnock appears to be using those funds to pay the bulk of his childcare expenses. Only one of the 33 listed payments — disbursed on September 26, 2022 — was described in the subject line as “childcare expenses (campaign related).” The largest single payment — totaling over $11,000 — was made directly to Warnock himself and was described as “childcare reimbursement.” The others were simply described as “childcare.”
Warnock has previously faced criticism after a report revealed that his church owned a building in a low income housing area, and had moved to evict a number of tenants during the pandemic over back rent amounts as low as $28.55.
“NEW: Records obtained by @FreeBeacon reveal Raphael Warnock’s church, which pays him a $7417 monthly housing allowance, secretly owns a low-income apartment building that tried to evict residents during the pandemic,” The Washington Free Beacon’s Andrew Kerr reported. “One for just $28.55 in late rent.”
Since early 2020, 12 eviction lawsuits have been filed against residents of Columbia Tower at MLK Village, which Warnock’s church owns 99% of.
The average rent owed by the residents clocked in at just $125 a month.
The building has received over $15 million in taxpayer funding.
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) October 11, 2022
“Since early 2020, 12 eviction lawsuits have been filed against residents of Columbia Tower at MLK Village, which Raphael Warnock’s church owns 99% of,” Kerr continued. “The average rent owed by the residents clocked in at just $125 a month. The building has received over $15 million in taxpayer funding.”
Kerr also noted the irony that Warnock’s building would sue to evict tenants who couldn’t pay their back rent — even as Warnock, then a candidate, was arguing on social media for a moratorium on rent and mortgage payments due to the pandemic.
“Unemployment benefits have expired, rent is due today, and many Georgia families are at risk of eviction in the middle of a pandemic. My opponents are supposed to be serving the people in Washington, but they’re clearly only concerned with serving their own interests,” Warnock said in August of 2020.
Unemployment benefits have expired, rent is due today, and many Georgia families are at risk of eviction in the middle of a pandemic.
My opponents are supposed to be serving the people in Washington, but they’re clearly only concerned with serving their own interests
— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) August 1, 2020
