All Milwaukee County supervisors audited, campaign finance complaint

All Milwaukee County supervisors audited

The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office looked into all 18 county board members after receiving a complaint about the misuse of campaign funds.

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office looked into all 18 county board members after receiving a complaint about the misuse of campaign funds, FOX6 News has learned.

The district attorney's office is not charging anyone and said its review is complete, but newly unsealed search warrants show when investigators found what they considered to be inconsistencies with two supervisors, they focused in on them.

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All county supervisors audited

The backstory:

The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office said it received a referral early last year from the county's Ethics Commission over concerns on "campaign finance issues."

All 18 county board supervisors were audited, and the district attorney said "filings that raised concerns" were investigated further. While no one was charged, FOX6 News obtained search warrants on Friday that detail investigations into two supervisors.

Investigation into Milwaukee County supervisors

Supervisors investigated

Dig deeper:

According to warrants, County Board Chair Marcelia Nicholson's financial records initially raised some eyebrows. The warrants said she frequently travels, and from summer of 2020 to 2024, it said she spent more than $5,000 on rideshares, $2,500 on food and drinks and $1,600 on gas. All of those charges were on her campaign account.

In a statement to FOX6, Nicholson's attorney said: "Whenever campaign funds were used, they were strictly for campaign activity. Chairwoman Nicholson has always drawn a clear line between personal and campaign expenses."

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The district attorney's office said no charges will follow the investigation.

A warrant showed the audit found inconsistencies with County Supervisor Priscilla Coggs-Jones' records, which led to a follow-up investigation looking into several loans. However, the matter was closed and no action was taken by the district attorney's office.

In a statement, Coggs-Jones' attorney told FOX6: "We thank the district attorney, who after a careful review of my client’s campaign records, determined that any errors did not rise to the level of a criminal citation."

Nicholson and Coggs-Jones are the only supervisors included in the warrants that FOX6 obtained. FOX6 asked the district attorney's office if they investigated any other supervisors beyond their initial investigation but did not hear back.