Republican group seeks investigation into challenger for U.S. Sen. Risch’s seat

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A national Republican committee asked a U.S. Senate ethics committee to investigate Todd Achilles, a former Idaho state representative who is running as an Independent against Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Risch.

Achilles has not yet filed a personal financial disclosure report as part of his campaign, the National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote Monday in a letter to the leaders of the ethics committee. In the letter, which the Republican committee also sent to reporters, its deputy general counsel, Andrew Pardue, said Achilles should have filed the disclosure within 30 days of announcing his candidacy in late June.

“Every day Achilles fails to file his Personal Financial Disclosure Report is another day that Idahoans are left in the dark about the financial interests relevant to Achilles’ campaign,” Pardue wrote. “Idahoans deserve to know whether Achilles has conflicts of interest or financial entanglements relevant to his candidacy.”

In a statement responding to the committee’s accusation, Achilles conceded that it was possible his campaign had failed to submit required paperwork.

“As an independent candidate, I do not have any army of DC lawyers paid for by organizations like the NRSC to handle every detail,” he wrote Tuesday. “If I missed a form, then I take responsibility and will get it corrected.”

But he sought to reframe the Republican committee’s accusation as “threats and intimidation,” aiming to stop his campaign.

“The NRSC knows I’m going to beat Jim Risch,” he wrote. The committee “knows Idaho voters want change and is trying to delay the inevitable.”