Ex-treasurer for two Democratic senators pleads guilty to massive embezzlement scheme involving yacht tours, Peloton bikes, 'aesthetic services'

Katherine Buchanan could now face years in federal prison

Credit: Alpha Photo / Flickr (Creative Commons).

In January, I broke news in Rolling Stone that a Democratic campaign treasurer Katherine Margaret Buchanan was suspected by several political committees — including those of two U.S. senators — of stealing money from them.

From my Rolling Stone article:

The committees — including those led by Virginia’s two U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner — have alerted law enforcement officials and federal regulators and continue to internally investigate the matter, they acknowledge.

The alleged misappropriations of funds are the latest in a string of high-profile thefts and unauthorized financial transactions that have recently walloped federal political committees of all partisan stripes, collectively costing them millions of dollars.

Kaine’s campaign committee, Kaine for Virginia, said it fired treasurer Katherine Buchanan, who it suspected of keeping incorrect records. It “does not know the extent of Ms. Buchanan’s apparent misappropriations,” the committee told Federal Election Commission (FEC) officials in a letter dated June 6 … Federal authorities contacted Kaine’s campaign about Buchanan in April, and the campaign “immediately removed the individual’s access to all campaign accounts, notified the FEC and the Alexandria (Va.) Police Department, and hired a new compliance firm,” Kaine spokesperson Janine Kritschgau told Rolling Stone.

That was then.

Now, this week, Buchanan has pleaded guilty to “embezzling campaign contributions from three federal candidates for political office and committing tax evasion,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said of the matter: