17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT RACE Ryan returns illegal donation

The Democratic candidate returned the campaign contribution.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Democrat Timothy J. Ryan, whose campaign has had troubles following federal election rules, returned a $5,000 contribution from a top U.S. House Democratic leader because the money exceeded the permissible contribution limit.
Ryan's campaign said it had nothing to do with the mistake.
House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi has contributed $17,000 to Ryan, including a $2,000 personal contribution. Pelosi's PAC to the Future committee gave Ryan $10,000 -- $5,000 for his primary and $5,000 for the general election, the maximum amount it could give the 17th Congressional District candidate.
The problem is Pelosi's Team Majority committee gave $5,000 to Ryan. Pelosi's two political action committees have the same treasurer, thus the Federal Election Commission considers those contributions to have come from affiliated groups.
It is a violation of FEC rules for affiliated PACs to give more than $5,000 per election to a congressional candidate.
Asked for it back
After the problem came to the attention of Pelosi's campaign officials through a published report, the campaign asked for Ryan to return $5,000.
The money was sent back Monday to Pelosi, said Pat Lowry, Ryan's campaign spokesman.
"When you get money from the House minority whip, you don't expect a problem," Lowry said. "We had nothing to do with it. We didn't do anything wrong."
David All, campaign manager for Republican Ann Womer Benjamin, Ryan's opponent, said the problem "isn't entirely Mr. Ryan's fault, but we do think it is another FEC violation."
Loan in question
A questionable $50,000 loan to Ryan's campaign became an issue during the May primary and is being investigated by the FEC. Also during the primary, Ryan's campaign returned a $5,000 contribution from the Mahoning County Democratic Party, which originally came from the Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council, because the political party could not under FEC rules give Ryan's congressional campaign that amount of money.
In recent months, Womer Benjamin's campaign has complained that Ryan's campaign materials and TV commercials do not carry the correct disclaimer, which would violate FEC rules. After the complaint, Ryan changed his TV commercials' disclaimer.
Disregard alleged
"He's shown a continuous disregard of FEC rules," All said of Ryan. "This points to the issue of Ryan's inexperience and ineffectiveness. If these were prosecutable, he'd have more jail time than Traficant."
All is referring to former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., who is running as an independent in the 17th District race. Traficant is serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.
skolnick@vindy.com