Updated 3:49 p.m. ET

Two news reports raise questions about Herman Cain's practice of using campaign funds to buy his own book from a motivational speaking company he runs.

Bloomberg and Talking Points Memo combed through the GOP presidential candidate's campaign-finance reports and found thousands of dollars being spent on Cain's memoir with the payments going to T.H.E. New Voice. The company is listed as being paid by the Cain presidential campaign for airfare, lodging, ground transportation and supplies, the reports say.

Cain is juggling the presidential campaign and promotion of his memoir, This is Herman Cain! My Journey to the White House. The book debuted this weekend at No. 4 on The New York Times best-seller list.



The Federal Election Commission has ruled in several cases involving politicians and their memoirs, most recently at the request of Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass. In that case, the FEC said candidates can use campaign funds to buy their books at fair market value as long as the royalties are donated to charities.

Bloomberg also cited FEC rulings involving then-senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. Campaign watchdogs say what Cain is doing raises some eyebrows.

"All candidates publish books and they offer them as premiums to donors, but most candidates aren't buying them from their own companies," Bill Allison, editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation, told Bloomberg. "It raises the question of his campaign contributions ending up in his own pocket."

Craig Holman of Public Citizen told TPM that "any presidential candidate that pays his or her own company for goods and services is going to be viewed by the public as using the campaign for personal profit."

Cain was matter-of-fact when asked by Bloomberg about the purchase of his book by his for-profit company. He said it is part of his campaign's "unconventional approach" as he tries to educate voters about who he is and where he stands on issues.

"They are buying my books and my pamphlets," Cain is quoted as saying in the Bloomberg story. "The campaign is buying them from T.H.E. New Voice."

Cain is lagging well behind Rick Perry and Mitt Romney when it comes to fundraising. He raised $2.8 million and spent about $2 million in the July-to-September fundraising period, according to his latest campaign-finance report. He's got $1.3 million cash-on-hand as the campaign enters a crucial phase before the primaries and caucuses.

Nielsen BookScan says 13,000 copies of Cain's memoir was sold in its first week of release. BookScan does not track sales of books at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.

(Contributing: Jackie Kucinich)