- House payroll records show that Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.)
significantly increased the salaries of three key staffers in the days
following the revelation that he was romantically involved with Chandra
Levy, a young Washington intern who went missing last year and recently
was found dead in Rock Creek Park.
A Roll Call analysis of Condit,s payroll records, as disclosed in the quarterly
Statement of Disbursements of the House, revealed that the embattled Congressman
gave significant pay raises to two top aides " Administrative Assistant
Mike Dayton and Chief of Staff Michael Lynch " as the Levy investigation
heated up.
The Congressman also awarded significant pay raises to his longtime executive
secretary, Jackie Mullen, more than doubling her salary in just two years
and making her one of the highest-paid secretaries in Congress by pushing
her close to the $100,000 mark " a salary typically earned only by
chiefs of staff in Members, offices. Mullen works out of Condit,s district
office in Modesto.
According to public records, Mullen made about $43,000 in 1999, and her
annual salary for 2000 increased to about $57,000 " but thanks to
tremendous leaps in pay she began receiving around the time the Levy controversy
exploded, her annual salary for 2001 jumped to about $99,000. Her pay
jump first appeared in payroll records covering the period from April
1, 2001 through June 30, 2001. She was paid $34,749 for those three months,
whereas she only earned $16,511 during the three months prior to that.
For the first quarter of 2002, which began Jan. 3 and ended March 31, Mullen
raked in $26,444 " a rate of pay that would give her an annual salary
of about $105,800.
Mullen is one of several Condit staffers who went to bat for the House
Member last August on CNN,s "Larry King Live." Condit also appeared
on the show around the same time to defend himself against speculation
that he was involved in Levy,s disappearance; he was interviewed by police
several times but was not called a suspect.
Dayton and Lynch also received considerable pay hikes from Condit as news
of Levy,s disappearance spilled onto front pages last year.
Dayton earned about $82,000 annually in 1999 and his salary totaled $95,000
in 2000, but his pay jumped to about $115,000 in 2001 following the Levy
controversy " his pay jumped by $10,000 to $33,166 for the three
months ending Sept. 30, 2001 " and this year he earned $34,222 in
just three months.
If he continues to be paid at that rate, Dayton " who has tirelessly
defended Condit to the press over the past year " would make an annual
salary of about $137,000, only slightly less than the $150,000 that rank-and-file
Members earn themselves.
By law, Congressional staffers are not allowed to earn more than $145,000
per year.
Lynch " the highest-paid staffer on Condit,s staff " earned about
$102,000 in 1999 and $114,400 in 2000.
Following the Levy controversy, Lynch,s salary increased by several thousand
more dollars, and he earned $127,500 by the end of last year. By contrast,
the average salary of a chief of staff was $97,615, according to a 2000
House staff employment study conducted by the Congressional Management
Foundation.
For the first quarter of 2002, Lynch earned $34,555. If the Modesto-based
staffer continues to be paid at that rate, his annual salary would be about
$138,000, making him one of the highest-paid chiefs of staff in Congress.
Lynch is also earning money from the Congressman,s campaign committee.
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the
campaign still owes Lynch $5,000 for "consulting services."
Neither Lynch nor Dayton returned phone calls seeking comment on their
salaries or Mullen,s salary. But one unidentified Condit staffer said "common
sense" should indicate that "hard work, commitment and dedication"
resulted in the pay bumps.
But it,s safe to say that their salary hikes will come in handy as the
staffers face potential unemployment lines once Condit finishes his last
term in Congress.
The salary boosts, it should be pointed out, would also increase the amount
of money each staffer will eventually receive as part of their federal
retirement. The federal government,s retirement system bases an individual,s
pension on the three highest years, salaries.
Moreover, their padded salaries might also help should they confront their
own legal bills.
Lynch recently testified before a grand jury investigating the Levy matter,
and Dayton also came under scrutiny last year when he was spotted driving
Condit to a trash can in Northern Virginia, where the Congressman mysteriously
disposed of a watch case.
The watch case, according to press reports, had contained a gift from a
female friend, but neither the Congressman nor Lynch have publicly explained
why he was disposing of it in that manner.
Dayton is being represented by top Washington lawyer Stan Brand. Brand
has earned his reputation over the years representing a number of Members
of Congress facing various legal troubles.
Mullen has also lent herself to the Congressman, speaking favorably on
his behalf last August on CNN,s "Larry King Live."
During that television appearance, Mullen " who has worked for Condit
since 1983 when he was a member of the California state assembly "
said she thought Condit should have made some sort of public statement
sooner but defended his right to privacy.
"I would have liked to have seen him go out in the very beginning
and say to the media, I,m not going to talk about this. I have nothing
to say to you folks. You know this is something that,s between me and
my family, this is private,," Mullen said during the appearance on
CNN with her colleagues.
Mullen also told viewers that she thought Condit should not run for re-election:
"I think he should not have to put up with what he,s had to put up
with. And I think no, I don,t think he should," she said.
She also stated during the television interview that she never once questioned
her boss about his relationship with Levy.
"With the rumors that I had heard, I never asked Gary Condit those
kinds of questions," Mullen said.
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2002/06/news0624a.html
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