While U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot hasn't said anything publicly about the missing money from his campaign fund, his attorney on Friday vowed to conduct "a thorough audit" and work with law enforcement. 

"The campaign and Congressman Chabot appear to be the victims of a financial crime," attorney Mark Braden said in a statement Friday. "Congressman Chabot was shocked and deeply disappointed to learn of this financial malfeasance and is taking every appropriate action to resolve this matter."

The Republican from Westwood learned on Tuesday campaign funds were misappropriated, Braden said in a statement earlier this week.

Chabot and his campaign officials have not disclosed the specifics, how much money is missing and who's responsible. Braden, in his initial statement on Wednesday, said "the misappropriation of funds by some campaign treasurers has been far too common an occurrence over the years." 

While Chabot has been tight-lipped about the investigation, Ohio Democrats have much to say about it. 

They went on the offensive Friday in a press conference in Cincinnati with Ohio Democratic chairman David Pepper, the two Democratic candidates for Chabot's 1st Congressional District seat, Kate Schroder and Nikki Foster, and the heads of the Democratic parties in Hamilton and Warren counties. 

They blamed Chabot for allowing this to happen.

Schoder called for Congress to investigate. Foster called on Chabot to resign. 

"These allegations represent a shocking betrayal of the public trust on the part of Rep. Chabot and his closest advisors," Foster said in a statement released earlier this week. "Rep. Chabot’s tolerance for corruption throughout his inner circle proves that his moral compass is broken and he can no longer effectively serve his constituents. He must resign."

Pepper didn't say it was the end of Chabot's political career, but it is a "real body blow." 

"Why would anyone give you a dollar, and that dollar may be going out the door to someone to make money as opposed to actually running a campaign to win?" Pepper said. 

Hamilton County GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou in a statement called the Democrats "disgraceful" for attacking "the victim of a crime for the sake of politics." 

Those with the Chabot campaign worked with authorities as soon as they learned of the incident. 

"For Democratic Party leaders to claim anything otherwise is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and they should be ashamed," Triantafilou said in the statement. "The Democrats in this state have regularly failed at the ballot box and are attacking Steve Chabot out of desperation.”

The Federal Elections Commission sent a letter on Aug. 27 to Chabot's campaign questioning the math on the campaign's reports.

In the letter, an FEC official addressed to Chabot's campaign treasurer Jim Schwartz why there was an increase in receipts of $123,625.72 in the amended report for the first quarter of 2019.

The letter asked Schwartz to clarify why the money was not disclosed in the original report. 

When reached at his jewelry store in Bridgetown, Jim Schwartz said he's not the treasurer.

The investigation into the missing money is believed to center around Schwartz' son, Jamie Schwartz. Jamie Schwartz is the longtime campaign manager for Chabot. 

Jim Schwartz didn't want to comment on the missing money or the whereabouts of his son, other than he's no longer with Chabot's campaign. 

"He's no longer doing that, so he's doing a lot of running around right now," Jim Schwartz said. "I couldn't tell you where he's at."

Jamie Schwartz' office for his political consulting firm, Fountain Square Group, has closed and his phone is disconnected. 

The FEC doesn't have a record of a response from Chabot's campaign. The campaign has until Oct. 1 to respond. 

The Democrats on Friday questioned why Chabot gave Schwartz so much power.

"You empowered him," Pepper said. "You created a system where the vendor, treasurer and the manager are apparently the same person. That's asking for trouble."

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