The review will show Bachmann didn't do 'anything inappropriate,' her lawyer said. Bachmann faces finance probe

An attorney for Rep. Michele Bachmann denied Monday that the Minnesota Republican had committed any wrongdoing amid reports of a congressional probe into alleged campaign finance violations during her run for president in 2012.

William McGinley, a lawyer with the firm Patton Boggs who represents Bachmann, confirmed the Office of Congressional Ethics probe in a statement.


“There are no allegations that the congresswoman engaged in any wrongdoing. We are constructively engaged with the OCE and are confident that at the end of their review the OCE Board will conclude that Congresswoman Bachmann did not do anything inappropriate,” said McGinley.

McGinley declined to offer any further details, including whether Bachmann has been interviewed by OCE.

The Daily Beast reported Monday that the OCE was interviewing Bachmann staffers over alleged campaign finance irregularities.

The report suggests that congressional investigators are looking into alleged under-the-table payments by campaign staffers, as well as improper transfers of funds by the campaign.

Peter Waldron, an evangelist and former aide to Bachmann’s presidential campaign, has alleged in a complaint to the Federal Election Campaign that Bachmann used funds from her leadership PAC to cover the consultant costs for her presidential race.

Waldron also claims that the Bachmann campaign improperly hid payments to Kent Sorenson, an Iowa state senator who ran the Bachmann campaign in the state until he jumped to join Rep. Ron Paul’s effort.

The OCE probe is in its second phase. If OCE votes to send a recommendation to the full House Ethics Committee, the panel will have 90 days to decide whether to continue with the investigation. If Ethics declines to move ahead with a full-scale probe, OCE’s report on its findings will be publicly released.

Bachmann ended her campaign in January 2012, after placing a distant sixth in the Iowa caucuses. She was reelected to the House in November.