Far-right Texas congressman's ex-staffer paid back nearly $40K in 'unauthorized charges'

The campaign committee of Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is refusing to explain in detail why his former deputy chief of staff, Margaret A. (Maggie) Harrell, paid the campaign almost $40,000 for “reimbursement for unauthorized expenses.”

Harrell paid $39,368.63 to Chip Roy for Congress on Feb. 10, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Raw Story.

A Nov. 5 letter from the FEC to the campaign committee said, “This receipt appears to be related to an apparent unauthorized use of Committee funds. Although the Commission may take further legal action regarding this apparent improper use of Committee funds, any further clarifying information that you can provide will be taken into consideration.”

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Harrell currently works for the Foundation for Government Accountability, a conservative think tank in Naples, Fla.

When Raw Story reached Harrell by phone, she said she was at work and unavailable to discuss the issue. Harrell did not return a voicemail message left after work hours or a text Tuesday morning.

Roy’s office did not respond to Raw Story’s questions about whether it considers the “unauthorized expenses” to be thefts and whether Roy or his staff contacted law enforcement about the matter.

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Roy’s office did send Raw Story two statements from Roy that failed to explain the exact nature of the reimbursement.

"Our campaign discovered unauthorized charges made during previous cycles and upon discovery, worked to obtain reimbursements for those charges and notified the FEC of the issue,” Roy’s first statement said. “Those reimbursements were made and reflected in the first quarter of this cycle.”

After follow-up questions from Raw Story, Roy issued another statement: "Upon a review of all transactions made in previous cycles, our campaign discovered some debit card transactions not officially authorized by the campaign, self-reported those charges to the FEC, and those reimbursements were made.”

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The website LegiStorm said Harrell served as deputy chief of staff for Roy from November 2018 — when he was first elected to Congress — to March 2021. Before that, she was executive director of his campaign committee, Chip Roy for Congress.

“During the campaign, she got to know every inch of our district and its people,” Roy said in a November 2018 news release announcing Harrell’s position. “She is a woman of strong faith, has broad experience, and is a Capitol Hill veteran.”

Harrell was named Woman of the Year in 2019 by Young Conservatives of Texas.

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While it’s unclear why Harrell had to reimburse Roy’s campaign, she received numerous payments from the campaign from 2018 to 2021 for “political strategy consulting.”

Chip Roy for Congress paid Harrell $75,083 in 2018 and $52,801 in 2020, according to FEC records.

That was in addition to her compensation as a member of Roy’s staff, federal records indicate.

Roy is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.