FEC Flubs II?: Tom Manion

This may or may not be a flub but it is worth asking about. I noted in a previous post on the first quarter 2008 FEC reports that Tom Manion, the Republican candidate for the 8th congressional district, didn't list any paid staff. He raised a lot of money and it could be assumed that he was helped quite a bit by local party activists. However, he announced in February that he had hired a campaign manager. See "Manion faces lone challenge in race," by Scott Kraus, The Morning Call, 2/13/08:

Manion said he was grateful for the support of party activists, and is gearing up for the campaign, starting by hiring experienced GOP operative Jerry Morgan as his campaign manager.

This was in February but as of April 2nd, Mr. Morgan had not been paid.

It cannot be said that he wasn't actually working until after the report was filed. According to "House passes wiretap measure," by Brian Scheid, Bucks County Courier Times, 3/14/08:

Jerry Morgan, a spokesman for Tom Manion, Murphy's presumptive Republican opponent in November's election, said that Murphy's vote was a sign he was unwilling to work for that bipartisan solution.

Also in March, Mr. Morgan, identified as Manion's campaign manager, was the featured speaker at the March Bucks County Young Republican Meeting:

We just want to remind you that our next monthly meeting will be taking place Thursday, March 20th at 7:00 PM at Bucks County Republican Headquarters in Doylestown. (For a map and directions, click here.) We will be covering quite a bit at this meeting, and we will have a special guest: Jerry Morgan, campaign manager for Manion for Congress. So make sure you’re there!!

His hiring is announced in mid-February, by mid-March he is being quoted and appearing in public as a campaign employee but there are no salary payments listed on a report that covered campaign spending through April 2nd. Mr. Morgan may have elected to delay his first paycheck until after the reports were filed or perhaps he started after the first of March and his first check wouldn't be due until mid- or late April.

This will all be cleared up when the next quarterly reports are filed and a salary pattern is clear, biweekly, monthly, end of the month, first of the month, etc. Mr. Morgan is a well-respected political operative, having previously worked for Rep. Don Sherwood and Rep. Bill Shuster.