Rep. Jim Kasper (R-Fargo)
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO) – A campaign finance complaint was filed Monday against State Representative Jim Kasper of Fargo.
Kasper is accused of not disclosing a $5,000 in campaign donation in 2020. The complaint filed by Scott Tillman, field director of US Term Limits Association, shows that Kasper cashed a check for $5,000 while not reporting the donation, not showing any associated campaign spending, and not showing the donation with total funds on hand at the end of the campaign.
“A lot of time and effort went into the North Dakota Ethics Amendment citizen’s initiative in an effort to improve our political system,” Tillman said. “If lawmakers are ignoring voter-approved campaign reporting, it’s impossible for citizens to know how much is being spent on legitimate campaign expenses and what is being spent inappropriately.”
Tillman is referring to the 2018 Ethics Amendment that passed after citizens gathered more than thirty thousand signatures and put campaign transparency to a vote of the people.
“By ignoring campaign reporting as enacted by citizen initiative, Kasper has a very high level of contempt for North Dakota voters,” continued Tillman. “This is further evidenced by Kasper also leading a legislative effort to gut term limits approved by the voters last November.
“Kasper is not a political rookie,” Tillman said. “He’s been in the legislature for more than 22 years and was involved in creating the campaign finance laws. He has no excuse. He sees the bank statements and knows his reported totals are wrong. If the money is still in his campaign account, it should be reported as such. Otherwise, he is deliberately misreporting his financials. If the money has not been accounted for, further violations must be investigated.”
Kasper is a Republican who represents Legislative District 46. He was first elected in 2000. He has not responded to a request for comment.
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