The Denver Post
February 22, 2004 Sunday FINAL EDITION
Campbell's top staffer is accused in kickback
Claim referred to ethics panel; aide quits but denies profiting
BYLINE: Mike Soraghan , Denver Post Staff Writer
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A-01
LENGTH: 1017 words
WASHINGTON - Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell is referring a kickback allegation regarding his former chief of staff to the Senate Ethics Committee.
The allegation centers on Ginnie Kontnik's admitted action in 2002 of inflating an aide's salary and asking him to give her $ 2,000 in return. The claim was first documented in the aide's resignation letter in 2003.
Kontnik, who resigned her $ 142,000-a-year position Friday citing personal reasons, denies the arrangement was a kickback. But after a day of questioning by The Denver Post concerning Kontnik's departure, Campbell said he would refer the matter to the Ethics Committee.
'Sen. Campbell takes the allegations by The Denver Post very seriously,' Campbell's office said in a statement late Friday. The senator, who is running for re-election this year, had originally said he would not comment on a 'personnel matter.'
The former aide, Brian D. Thompson, told The Post the transaction was 'blatant, criminal' and part of an office environment that drove him to quit in May.
'It was like she needed 'X' amount, and I got to keep the rest,' Thompson said. 'My resignation was tied to the fact that I was being asked to do things that I found to be unethical.'
Kontnik said the money was not for her own profit but to reimburse her for 'Senate/political' expenses she had paid out of pocket.
'I did not profit one dime from the money, nor did anyone else,' she said in a statement.
'I probably should not have asked Brian to do it, but I did,' Kontnik added in an interview. 'Brian has mischaracterized it. But yeah, that's what happened.'
The allegations and Kontnik's resignation come as Campbell, a two-term Republican from Ignacio, faces an election in which his foe is yet unknown.
The leading Democratic candidate, Colorado Springs educator Mike Miles, has grassroots support but little money. Software entrepreneur Rutt Bridges is considering entering the race, and he could put in millions of his own dollars.
Thompson, who now does day- trading and acts in Denver-area commercials and theatrical productions, said he believes Campbell to be ethical, 'but shame on him for not knowing.'
The Senate Ethics Committee oversees the conduct of senators and their staffs.
Kontnik had worked for Campbell since before he changed parties in 1995, and she became chief of staff shortly after the party switch.
Campbell had announced this month that Kontnik would have 'a different role,' though she would remain chief of staff and retain her salary.
Kontnik said Thompson's allegations had nothing to do with her resignation Friday. She said the decision was hers because she is newly divorced and wanted 'to pursue new opportunities and to make some changes in my life.'
Thompson worked for Campbell in his Englewood office from Nov. 15, 2001, to May 8, 2003. He said he got the job after meeting Kontnik at a Denver-area health club.
He started answering phones at the front desk and was promoted to be Kontnik's assistant.
Thompson said the bonus request was made shortly after the promotion.
'I got the job, and she said, 'Listen, I'm going to give you a really big bonus because a first of all, you deserve it, you're doing a really good job,'' Thompson recalled. ''But I'm going to overbonus you so you can turn around and give me back some money so I can pay my attorney, who I need to give a retaining fee for my divorce.''
But he said the payback did not go as planned because taxes and his 401(k) were not taken into account, and the size of his actual paycheck did not grow enough.
'And then they did it again; they gave me another one, bigger this time, so that the actual cash payout would be enough,' Thompson said.
Senate expense records show Thompson got an extra $ 6,300 during a six-month period in 2002. Senate employees are paid twice monthly, and Thompson's bank records show he received two higher-than-normal paychecks in a row in September and October 2002, and that shortly after the second one, he wrote a check for $ 2,000.
Thompson said he wrote that check out to cash, took the cash, walked a few blocks to the office and handed it to Kontnik.
'It disgusts me now that I did it,' Thompson said. 'You sit there and you go a 'I just sold myself out.' It's like what am I doing?'
Kontnik said the bonus was approved by Campbell.
'The $ 2,000 was given to me under an arrangement previously agreed to by the senator and office management at the end of our fiscal year,' she said in a written statement to The Post. When pressed in an interview as to whether Campbell agreed with that kind of reimbursement, she said she didn't 'have absolute recall.'
'He may have been aware of it verbally, but not technically signed off on it,' Kontnik said.
Campbell's answer was confined to his statement referring the matter to the Ethics Committee.
Kontnik did not fully explain why the reimbursement could not be done through a regular expense report. But she acknowledged it wasn't a good idea.
'It was shoddy accounting,' she said in an interview. 'It was for staff expenses and functions and meals. There are Senate/political-related expenses that come as part of the job; sometimes those are paid out of the campaign funds.'
After Thompson complained about the transaction in his 2003 resignation letter, he said he never heard back from Campbell's office. But Kontnik said his complaint was looked into and office procedures were changed.
She said Campbell office administrator Reagan Blewett sent a letter to Thompson saying: "I will assure you that I have taken all of your feedback to heart and will closely review everything you identified with Ginnie and work to make changes so that future employees will never feel that they have been compelled to participate in inappropriate activities."
