NEW YORK — Hillary Rodham Clinton has written off $13.1 million in personal funds that she lent her failed presidential campaign, new disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show.
Clinton loaned the money to her campaign in several installments last spring. She has been working to pay down that debt to clear the way for confirmation as President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state. Federal ethics rules prohibit Cabinet officials from actively soliciting campaign contributions.
Clinton has told donors that she would absorb the personal loan and would not be raising money to pay it down. The campaign’s latest FEC report, filed Saturday, was the first to reflect that she had formally forgiven the loan.
The new report showed that the campaign still owes $6.3 million to vendors, down from about $7.4 million in November. The largest obligation — $5.3 million — is owed to the polling firm of Clinton’s senior strategist, Mark Penn. The Associated Press
