WASHINGTON -- The last week of August was a very generous one at the Smitherman household in Austin, Texas. Barry Smitherman had recently been appointed commissioner of the Texas Railroad Commission by Gov. Rick Perry, following a stint as chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission. That week, Smitherman, his wife Marijane, and three of their four children each donated thousands of dollars to Rick Perry's presidential campaign.
Barry, Marijane, and their son Wyatt, a sophomore at Texas A&M University, donated the maximum allowed, $2,500, according to campaign finance disclosures. Their only daughter, who appears to be of middle school age judging from her dad's campaign website, also donated $2,500. And one of her brothers, who is a junior in high school according to his Twitter feed, donated $1,000. Smitherman declined to respond to questions from The Huffington Post about whether the money belonged to his children or to him.
Recently filed federal election disclosures show an unusually high incidence the live-at-home children of donors also contributing to the Perry campaign, more than other Republican candidate, provoking questions as to whether some of the donations to Perry's campaign are actually coming from the kids.
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