Cochran campaign staffer Amanda Shook was illegally reimbursed for over $40,000 cash in walking around money during the Republican primary, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. The payments are described as “Reimbursed Expenses - Campaign Walkers.”
Shook is Director of Operations for the Thad Cochran campaign, where she works for campaign manager Kirk Sims, who was also mentioned by Fielder as someone he worked with on the Cochran campaign. Shook previously worked for Sims in the office of Governor Phil Bryant, where Sims was the governor’s chief of staff and Shook was his scheduler. Sims is U.S. Senator Roger Wicker’s son-in-law.
FEC reports list seven payments by Citizens for Cochran, the candidate’s official campaign committee, to Shook totaling $52,625. The bulk of these payments describe the purpose of the disbursement as “Reimbursed Expenses - Campaign Walkers.” It is unclear how 27 year-old Shook acquired such large sums of cash for the initial outlays. Requests for comment from Shook went unanswered at the time of this writing.
According to FEC documents filed by Citizens for Cochran, Amanda Shook received seven separate payments from the PAC from May 1-June 3. However, most of the cash walking money, $41,500 was paid to Shook from May 29-June 3, just prior to the Republican Primary. “Walking around money” or street money is the practice of using cash for sometimes questionable purposes during campaigns.
Shortly after the primary and before run-off, Shook left the country for a luxurious vacation at a resort in the Dominican Republic for her husband’s 30th birthday.
1. Has she returned, and
2. If not, does the US have an extradition treaty with them?
So why aren’t Shook and Sims in jail?