GOP candidates see little money from Barr PAC

ATLANTA — On April 1, former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr wrote to rally conservatives across the country to stop liberals from solidifying control of Congress.

"If we don't act fast — I'm afraid conservatives may well lose out again!" he implored in a letter sent by his political action committee.

The Bob Barr Leadership Fund, he wrote, has played a "tremendous role" in helping conservative Republicans defeat liberal congressmen. Since 2003, Barr's PAC has raised $4.3 million with similar mailings.

But only a small portion of that money has made its way to Republican campaigns.

In the past five years the fund has given $125,200 — about three cents of every dollar raised — to federal candidates and other campaign committees, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found in a review of reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Another $81,875 went to state and local campaigns.

The fund spent more than $710,000 in that period on administrative costs, including office expenses, $41,109 salary for his son Derek and a $500 political consulting fee for his son Adrian. It also paid $865 for travel for Barr's wife, Jeri.

Most of the fund's spending — $3.3 million, or about 78 percent of all gifts from donors — paid for raising more money, including mailing lists, postage and telemarketing.

"It costs money to raise money," Barr said.

In the letter, Barr told potential donors the fund played a "tremendous role" in ousting Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) in 2004 and provided "critical funding" in 2006 for freshman Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). But records show the fund made modest donations in those races: $1,000 to John Thune, Daschle's opponent, and $1,500 to Bachmann.

The letter states he also raised tens of thousands of dollars in 2002 for Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). The organization, however, donated nothing to Chambliss that year; a fund official wrote in an email that Barr, not the fund, helped raise about $20,000 for that race.

Over the years, the federal candidate receiving the most contributions from Barr's fund has been Barr himself — $10,000. The fund gave $12,000 to the Libertarian National Committee.

The letter made no mention of Barr's recent campaign for the Libertarian Party's nomination for president, in which he has criticized many Republicans in Congress. Libertarians will choose their candidate at a convention this week in Denver.

Barr, a former federal prosecutor, defended the fund's solicitations and expenditures. He declined to answer questions about individual donations and the letter's characterization of their importance.

"I won't be cross-examined" about the fund's finances, he said.

In an email, the fund's treasurer, Paul Kilgore of Athens, Ga., wrote that the letter was "in production well before the decision to form an exploratory committee was reached. ... [T]here is certainly no requirement that we mention anything specifically in our letters."

The fund "is designed to further conservative and libertarian ideals that I espouse," Barr said. That includes some travel expenses, he said, as he speaks at political gatherings, universities and law schools.

Barr brushed aside questions about high fund-raising costs and the number of direct donations to candidates and causes.

"Fine, it doesn't operate the way other PACs operate," he said. "Next question."

Federal law requires a committee such as Barr's, once set up, to donate money to at least five candidates for federal office, and to limit donations to any one candidate or committee to $5,000 per election cycle.

Otherwise, "they can spend their funds as they want, as long as they report it," said George J. Smaragdis, spokesman for the Federal Election Commission.

Barr's group is a so-called "leadership fund," a type of political action committee used by current and aspiring party leaders to collect money and disperse it to candidates and committees.

Political action committees have become an integral part of the money side of American politics. Businesses, unions and others use them to raise and distribute millions of dollars and thereby influence politicians and policy.

Barr's use of donations for fund-raising and his own expenses is unlike most leadership funds, said Sarah Dufendach, chief of legislative affairs for Common Cause, the Washington-based nonpartisan public-interest advocacy group.

"It's not supposed to be for the benefit of that particular person," she said. "The leadership PACs are supposed to be for the support of other candidates. He is just sustaining himself."

Kilgore, the PAC treasurer, said direct mail is "a very expensive proposition" for raising money.

He would know. Kilgore operates two political consulting firms: Capitol Hill Lists LLC, which provides lists of potential donors for direct mail, and Professional Data Services, which handles campaign record keeping. Barr's fund has paid $293,652 to those companies since 2003.

Barr's fund "doesn't do gangbusters," he said, but brings in enough "to allow Bob to speak and spread his word."

Barr, 59, represented Northwest suburbs of Atlanta for four terms in Congress after his election in 1994. He gained national attention for his role in President Clinton's impeachment proceedings.

In 2002, Barr lost a bid for re-election after Georgia's Democratic-controlled Legislature placed him in the same district with John Linder, a popular Republican incumbent.

Once out of office, Barr dramatically increased fund-raising by the leadership committee, originally known as the American Sound Conservative PAC.

It raised $436,143 in 2003. Last year's donations of $1.17 million made it the second-largest federal PAC based in Georgia.

While most of its federal donations have gone to conservative Republicans, its state and local contributions have been mixed. Recipients include Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican, and Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, as well as a Libertarian running for the government of the Potawatomi tribe.

Since leaving Congress, Barr has promoted Libertarian causes in speeches and writings, including regular columns in Creative Loafing and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After Barr set up a presidential exploratory committee last month, the AJC suspended publication of Barr's column and blog.

Last week, Barr declared the Democratic and Republican parties to be failures as he formally announced his Libertarian candidacy.

His April 1 fund-raising letter disparaged "do-nothing Republicans" who let liberals dominate Congress. But, in discussing donations and the fund's work, it only mentioned contributions to conservative Republicans.

Barr bristled at questions about the letter.

"I suspect you can take any letter of a candidate or political organization, and you can parse it six ways to Sunday and find something wrong in it," he said. "I fail to see the relevance in that."

Some donors contacted by the AJC said they did not expect their donations would pay for Barr's travel, office expenses or fundraising.

"I thought it was going to benefit the Republican Party," said Edith Fogleman, 85, of Burlington, N.C. "I thought it was going for a good cause. I didn't know he was switching [to Libertarian]. I don't quite understand what he's doing."

Fogleman, who gave at least $145 since 2006, said she stopped after learning Barr might run as a Libertarian.

Dolphus Compere, a retired doctor in Fort Worth, Texas, said he is a lifelong Republican who strongly supports a strict immigration policy. He said he gave the fund $285 since 2006 because "I thought he was going to help people who promoted conservative causes."

Compere recently stopped giving money to Barr.

"I'm 90 years old and I've decided this country's going to pot and I can't help it," he said.

Others, such as Susan Kado, 87, of Vista. Calif., said Barr could use the donations however he wanted.

But Kado said she recently decided couldn't afford to give more on her fixed income.

She has written to the fund saying she was sorry, but the form letters still arrive.

"They don't seem to read my letters," she said.

Cameron McWhirter and Megan Clarke write for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: cmcwhirter, mclarke AT ajc.com