Christensen must produce more of a defense

Kirsten Searer

Monday, March 22, 2004 | 9:33 a.m.

Assemblyman Chad Christensen said Friday he would respond quickly to any requests from the secretary of state's office, which has opened an "official investigation" into his campaign finances.

"I have done absolutely nothing wrong," said Christensen, R-Las Vegas. "That has been audited and certified. I have complied with every wish of the secretary of state's office and I will continue to do that."

But Deputy Chief Secretary of State Renee Parker said Christensen hasn't given a "satisfactory" response to a complaint filed against him that questioned his campaign finances.

"Basically what he gave to us was documents that said, 'Hey, secretary of state, trust me. I did the right thing,' " Parker said. "That's not enough for us."

The issue stems from a campaign finance report Christensen filed in January that stated he cut himself more than $18,000 in checks from campaign funds in 2003.

One of Christensen's constituents filed a complaint in February. On Wednesday, Christensen responded to the secretary of state's office with a two-page letter.

"These payments were made to reimburse campaign expenses paid by me personally," he wrote.

He also included a one-page letter from his CPA who wrote that he looked into Christensen's campaign finances and found "no problems" except for a few "minor expense classification errors and a relatively small error in the beginning cash balance."

Parker said her office needs more specific information, such as receipts. She said she could not discuss specifics of the investigation, though she said Christensen potentially could clear up the matter if he supplied more information on his own.