Former Orange County Assemblymember Bill Brough has been fined $100,000 by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for misusing campaign funds and then failing to make payments toward a lesser penalty imposed earlier this year.
Brough, a Republican from Dana Point, agreed to pay a $47,000 penalty to settle the matter in April, made a single payment of $7,500 and then stopped responding to efforts by the FPPC and his own attorney to collect the rest, according to filings in the FPPC’s case.
Their investigation found that Brough, from February 2017 to March 2020, misused $17,303 in campaign funds for personal purposes and did not properly keep receipts for another $68,586 in spending.
Brough, a former Dana Point councilmember who served in the Assembly from 2016 until 2020, could not be reached for comment. In 2020, he denied any wrongdoing through his attorney and called the probe “retaliation” for his support of politically unfavorable legislation.
He later admitted to the FPPC’s charges and waived his right to a hearing as part of a stipulated agreement in April, according to a signed copy.
Because Brough defaulted on that agreement, the FPPC at its Nov. 16 meeting imposed the maximum amount of $5,000 for each of the 20 counts levied against him for misuse of the campaign funds and improper recordkeeping.
The FPPC originally launched its investigation in 2019 in response to a complaint from political blogger and conservative activist Aaron Park.
Improper expenses detailed
The improper campaign spending included $7,900 spent on a cellphone plan for his wife and children, $2,000 on clothes and nearly $7,000 on personal and family trips to Colorado, the Netherlands and Boston.
After his exit in 2020, Brough kept nearly $4,500 worth of items purchased for his Assembly office, including a custom cigar humidor, a custom bourbon barrel bar cabinet, a portable ice maker, a compact refrigerator and glass office shelving. He originally told…
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