Deal staffer to return campaign salary

WASHINGTON - The chief of staff to Congressman Nathan Deal of Gainesville is returning more than $90,000 in salary to Deal's campaign after a Capitol Hill newspaper discovered that he earned nearly $250,000 in 2006 and had repeatedly exceeded the cap on outside income for congressional staffers.

In his most lucrative year, Chris Riley earned $158,484 in tax dollars in 2006 as Deal's top congressional staffer. On top of that, Deal's campaign paid him $88,376 for running the congressman's re-election campaign.

The total - $246,860 - far exceeded his boss' salary of $165,200.

In an interview Thursday, Riley said he put in the time to deserve the salaries, working after hours and weekends to do both jobs. He said he was not aware that his campaign salary was subject to congressionally imposed limits on outside income for lawmakers and their staff.

"It was not intentional. I can't stress that enough," he said. "It was an oversight on my part, and I can't tell you how disappointing and embarrassing it is."

He emphasized that he never tried to conceal the campaign income, pointing out that it was disclosed publicly in Deal's Federal Election Commission reports.

When he learned of his mistakes this week after being questioned by the newspaper Roll Call, he immediately sought guidance from the House ethics committee to rectify it, he said. A spokesman for the ethics committee said he could not discuss the matter.

While it is common for congressional staffers to be paid for campaign work, their campaign salaries are typically small. The current limit on outside income for senior staff is about $25,000. Many take unpaid leave from their official congressional jobs to work on campaigns.

Riley, who works out of Deal's district office in Gainesville, said in hindsight he wishes he had taken leave from the congressional office to run the campaign.

In all, he said he would return about $93,000 to the campaign - the total of his campaign salary over the last several years that exceeded the income caps. He earned $38,626 from the campaign in 2004, $32,772 in 2005 and $30,822 in 2007.

Riley failed to report the campaign income on the personal financial disclosures that are required of lawmakers and their top staffs. He said he was not aware that it was necessary. He filed amended disclosures this week.

Deal, a Republican, was first elected in 1992.