Cassidy cleared in medical payments flap

BATON ROUGE (AP) — A university audit released Wednesday appears to clear newly elected U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of allegations he did little work for the taxpayer-funded annual salary he was paid for medical teaching work at LSU during his time in Congress.
The internal review said while Cassidy’s work “was not adequately documented” by the LSU Health Sciences Center, “sufficient facts and information exist to conclude that Dr. Cassidy provided services equal to at least that of his compensation for his part-time educational work.”
During last year’s Senate race, then-Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu accused Cassidy of bilking taxpayers, suggesting the Republican collected a $20,000 yearly salary for little work. She cited gaps and discrepancies in LSU timesheets filed by Cassidy when he also served in the U.S. House.
The university system launched the internal audit in December in response to Landrieu’s allegations. Cassidy, a liver specialist from Baton Rouge, defeated Landrieu that month and took over the Senate seat in January.
Cassidy insisted during the campaign that he did nothing improper.
He said he provided services to uninsured patients and worked with medical students, coordinating his part-time schedule at LSU around the time he spent in Washington.
LSU acknowledged gaps existed in Cassidy’s timesheets.
But the university audit said the timesheets weren’t used for payroll purposes and Cassidy’s work was corroborated through payroll records, personnel files, patient billing data, emails and interviews with managers and fellow employees.
“There is ample evidence and sufficient facts to conclude that I provided services equal to or in excess that of my compensation,” Cassidy said in a written audit response.
Cassidy took an unpaid leave of absence from LSU in March while campaigning for the Senate seat and hasn’t returned since the election.
His office said the senator was determining if the work was allowed under Senate ethics rules that limit outside compensation.
The audit described sloppy bookkeeping and tracking of Cassidy’s work, however.