Rep. Katherine Clark: 'I Have No Reason To Doubt' Rep. Lori Trahan

Elijah Cummings, John Sarbanes, Katherine Clark — In this Jan. 12, 2017, file photo, Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Clark is helping lead the Democrats' effort to pick up the 23 seats needed to regain control of the House in the 2018 midterm election.

Arjun Singh is a producer for Boston Public Radio. A California native, Arjun moved to Boston to study international relations at Boston University. Prior to working at WGBH, Arjun worked at a tech company and for a political campaign.

April 24, 2019

Updated April 25, 2019

Congresswoman Katherine Clark said she stands by Rep. Lori Trahan after a watchdog group accused her of illegally loaning money to her campaign in 2018.

After narrowly winning a crowded Democratic primary — by 150 votes — and surviving a highly publicized recount in Massachusetts’ third congressional district, Trahan has been accused by the Campaign Legal Center of loaning her campaign $371,000 from unknown sources, and possibly from campaign donations that exceeded the legal limit.

Clark said that she has no reason to believe Trahan did anything illicit or suspicious.

“I have no reason to doubt her,” Clark said. “I’m not familiar with this watchdog group, but everybody can make a claim, and I think she’s going to be open and transparent about resolving it.”

Trahan says the money she loaned her campaign two weeks before the primary came from a joint bank account with her husband, a home equity loan and income from her consulting firm, but reporting from the Boston Globe found that Trahan didn't have enough money to cover the cost of this loan.

The Campaign Legal Center is calling on the Federal Election Commission to investigate the origins of Trahan’s loan and accused her of raising the money through illegal donations. According to FEC rules, a candidate may loan their campaign money as long as the funds come from a personal bank account, but outside donations cannot exceed $2,700.

Clark did not comment on the particulars of the Globe investigation or the complaint from the Campaign Legal Center, but reaffirmed her faith in Trahan’s integrity and truthfulness when pressed on the matter by Boston Public Radio guest host Jared Bowen on Wednesday.

“Lori has made a very strong public statement ... saying she welcomes this inquiry,” Clark said. “Anybody can make a challenge to this, and I don’t know the details of her campaign filings, but I do know she says this is all above board — that she had the money from her very successful business to make the loan herself — and that she welcomes the FEC looking into it and she’s confident this will exonerate her.”