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Charles Pugh Explains Late Finance Reports

DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh is responding to reports that he has not yet filed his campaign finance reports.

A statement from Pugh said there was a delay in filing the reports because he had difficulty getting information from his former finance and campaign director. Also in the statement, Pugh acknowledged there were some questionable charges on the campaign's credit card.

"Unfortunately, my campaign finance reports are late. We have had difficulty getting information from my former finance and campaign director, which delayed the reports from being filed on time. She moved out of town soon after the election and has been unresponsive to our numerous requests for information. There were charges made on the campaign's credit card that we deem questionable.

We retained Campaign Finance Attorney Brett McRae in May to perform a thorough audit and complete the reports. We are prepared to pay the late fees which will total approximately $2,000. Retaining Mr. McRae, who is a highly respected campaign finance auditor used throughout the state, is one part of a system we've put in place to make sure this does not happen again. I am confident any issues will be resolved," said Pugh.

The statement comes following TV news reports questioning dozens of withdrawals from Pugh's campaign spending account -- including purchases at Nordstrom and President Tuxedo.

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