Kimberly Vertolli and then-husband Sen. Mark Kirk in happier times. This isn't the first time Kimberly Vertolli, Sen. Mark Kirk's ex-wife, has gone public with embarrassing information. In this case, it sounds an awful lot like the very charges
May 30, 2012

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Kimberly Vertolli and then-husband Sen. Mark Kirk in happier times.

This isn't the first time Kimberly Vertolli, Sen. Mark Kirk's ex-wife, has gone public with embarrassing information. In this case, it sounds an awful lot like the very charges for which John Edwards is on trial. Do you suppose the Justice Department will revert to that old slogan, "It's Okay If You're A Republican"?

Soon after Mark Kirk's ex-wife announced she would no longer support his 2010 run for the U.S. Senate, he brought her onto his campaign team, then quietly paid her after his victory.

But Kimberly Vertolli, a lawyer who received $40,000 from the campaign, again is at odds with her ex-husband, filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Kirk and his then-girlfriend may have broken campaign finance law.

The girlfriend, Dodie McCracken, who works in public relations, has acknowledged receiving more than $143,000 in fees and expenses for her campaign work. A former live-in girlfriend, she is no longer romantically involved with Kirk, according to a campaign aide.

Kirk's campaign has characterized Vertolli as an aggrieved ex-wife and labeled "groundless" her complaint filed late last year about payments to McCracken.

At the heart of the matter is Vertolli's assertion that the Kirk campaign may have improperly hidden money to McCracken by paying her through another company working for the campaign. Because the money was not paid directly to McCracken, her name does not appear in Kirk's federal disclosures.

Experts consulted by the Tribune said it's unclear how the FEC will view that arrangement, but they wondered why the campaign didn't simply hire McCracken or her firm directly. One Washington lawyer who handles election law said that generally speaking, "intentionally obscuring the actual payee of a campaign expenditure is a violation."

Vertolli also was not identified by name as receiving money, but she said there was nothing improper about that. Kirk's campaign paid the $40,000 to an obscure corporate entity she created shortly after joining the campaign, and it made the payment after the election was over, when reporters and the opposition would be less likely to check.

Federal law allows a candidate to pay a spouse, relative or friend for campaign work. In fact, Kirk routinely discloses that he pays his mother a salary and said he paid his stepmother for an auto during the Senate campaign.

Vertolli said Kirk brought her on the campaign in August 2010 after she gave a magazine interview critical of McCracken's role in his Senate bid. Vertolli's FEC complaint does not mention the money paid to her — money she says she now believes was given to "get me to be quiet about my misgivings about McCracken."

Eric Elk, Kirk's campaign manager, said the campaign did nothing wrong.

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