Two weeks after John Duncan III pleaded guilty to a felony charge of official misconduct in the summer of 2013, his father’s campaign, Duncan for Congress, began paying him at least $6,000 a month for “salary expense.”

In all, Duncan III’s father, U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., paid him $293,250 the last five years.

The payments

The first seven payments were made directly to Duncan III. Beginning in November 2013, the payments were made to a business, American Public Strategies, according to Federal Election Commission campaign records. The payments continued to be listed as “salary expense" and increased to two $3,500 payments a month.

Furthermore, for the 2015-2016 campaign cycle, Congressman Duncan's campaign fund raised $382,499.02. During that same time, Duncan III was paid $169,750 from the campaign.

According to property manager Brian Brown, Rep. Duncan rents office space from Sage Investment Co. at 6906 Kingston Pike. Brown said American Public Strategies and Duncan III have no ownership interest in the property.

However, according to FEC filings, Duncan for Congress paid American Public Strategies at the address on Kingston Pike.

Sage Investment Co. received 29 rent payments from Duncan for Congress between 2014 and 2017, for a total of $17,400.

However, neither entity is a registered business in the state.

American Public Strategies received a business license in Knox County in September 2013. That license expired June 30, 2014. Sage Investment Co. has never received a business license in Knox County.

According to the FEC, campaign funds may be used to pay a candidate’s family, but only if the family member is "providing a bona fide service to the campaign, and the payments reflect the fair market value of those services.”

Congressman's response

Duncan III responded to questions for comment with a lengthy text-messaged statement attributed to the congressman.

"Every expenditure from my campaign has been done according to law and in compliance with all pertinent regulations of the Federal Election Commission," he said. "Many members of Congress, past and present, have paid family members for campaign work. The fact that family members have run, and worked in, my campaigns has been public for a long time.

"In the last four years, I have paid my son, John, who has been in charge of my entire political operation doing everything from putting up yard signs and answering campaign calls to conducting polls, giving speeches, and raising funds. He was paid far less than many campaign managers and consultants while doing many things that they would not do.

"Every expenditure in relation to my family was done because I got family members to do things for much less than Washington campaign people. These are important positions of trust and I have the utmost trust in my family."

'Serious violation'

Brendan Fischer is the director of federal and FEC reform for the Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance watchdog organization in Washington, D.C. He said candidates using campaign funds for personal use is a “serious violation.”

“If they’re getting paid by campaign funds above fair market value, then that is personal use and is a prohibited use of campaign funds,” he said.

“For Duncan III to be paid $7,000 a month by the campaign in a noncompetitive district … certainly does not appear to be a reasonable rate,” he said.

Drew Rawlins, executive director of the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, said state law mimics the federal law.

“Just looking at the expenditures on a report, you cannot make a determination that they would prohibited," he said. "You would have to know what services were provided and were they provided at fair market value.”

According to Fischer, the FEC would be the department to enforce any penalties for wrongdoing. If a violation was found and it was determined that Duncan's office knowingly and willfully used campaign funds illegally, then the Department of Justice could get involved, he said.

Legal troubles

In 2013 prosecutor Bill Bright said Duncan III, who was earning nearly $107,000 as the Knox County trustee, had then-attorney Chad Tindell file a salary lawsuit on Sept. 30, 2013, approving bonuses of $3,000 each for himself and five others, and a $2,000 bonus for a sixth staffer for completing a training program that none of them had, in fact, completed.

Bright alleged Duncan lied to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation by saying that no one ever told him it was improper to collect bonuses before completion of the training program.

However, three employees told TBI that they had, in fact, warned Duncan against trying to collect bonuses without having finished the training.

Duncan III pleaded guilty by information, which means he agreed to skip a grand jury review. He received a one-year probation.

Rep. Duncan has not yet announced whether he will seek re-election. Duncan was first elected in 1988. His father, John J. Duncan Sr., was the district's congressman from 1965 until his death in 1988.

Payments by year

According to FEC filings this is the amount paid to Duncan III and American Public Strategies beginning July 15, 2013.