Dan Osborn’s Campaign Paid His Wife Nearly $20K in ‘Salary’ Payments, Records Show

WFB: Former union leader Dan Osborn, the Nebraska independent candidate for U.S. senate, paid his wife tens of thousands of dollars in salary in the weeks before launching his latest political campaign, records show.

The Osborn for Senate Exploratory Committee paid Megan Osborn $18,848 for “salary” and another $2,603 in travel reimbursements between April 17 and June 27, according to campaign disclosures filed this week. Osborn, who ran unsuccessfully against Sen. Deb Fischer (R.) last year, launched his sophomore try on July 8 against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, merging the exploratory with his formal campaign.

Though campaigns are allowed to pay salaries to candidates and their family members as long as payments represent “fair market value” for “bona fide services,” ethics watchdogs and many members of Congress have criticized the practice.

The nature of Megan Osborn’s work for the campaign is unclear, and she appears to have no previous experience working on political campaigns. According to Osborn’s financial disclosure last year, Megan Osborn worked at a sports bar in Omaha, where she earned at least $1,000 in wages. Osborn made $96,000 in wages from two companies. more