Rohrabacher Failed to Cover $8,956 in Checks : House bank: Conservative congressman is apologetic about only one of his eight overdrafts. He’s the last member of county delegation to disclose account problems in scandal.

And now, even Dana Rohrabacher.

The Huntington Beach Republican--winner of the National Taxpayers Union award for fiscal responsibility--has disclosed that he too has engaged in deficit spending, by writing checks against the now-defunct House bank when he did not have enough money to cover them.

After receiving a letter of confirmation from the House Ethics Committee, the congressman acknowledged Friday that there were eight such instances from July 1, 1988, to Oct. 3, 1991, involving checks totaling $8,955.81.

Rohrabacher was the last member of the county congressional delegation to disclose his checking account problems. He said one reason for the delay was that he had asked the Ethics Committee to clarify some of the bank’s records. The panel wrote him back Thursday.

But with the exception of one check that Rohrabacher conceded he could not defend, the congressman was unapologetic about his overdrafts, offering almost as many explanations for his own revenue shortfall as the federal government makes for its $400-billion deficit.

In one instance, Rohrabacher said, a check was held up for insufficient funds because the bank mistakenly returned a deposit that his father had sent to his account by wire transfer, without telling either him or his father.

Rohrabacher said three other checks failed to clear because he was trying pay his bills early--though admittedly before his congressional salary had been deposited in his House bank account.

“I do not consider that an error,” he said. “When you go back and forth every weekend, sometimes you have to pay your bills early.”

Like many of his House colleagues, the California lawmaker said the loosely run House bank never notified him when he did not have enough money on deposit to cover a check. It merely held the check for a few days, then paid it when he deposited more money.

“Nothing was ever indicated on any statement that came to me,” he said. “The only reason I knew I was (overdrawn) was that I did receive a call in November saying, ‘By the way, you’re overdrawn here.’ ”

Of the remaining four members of the county congressional delegation, only Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) has said he has no overdrafts. Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) has disclosed that he is responsible for four bad checks totaling $1,963. Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) disclosed last fall that he bounced one check. And Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), a candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination, has acknowledged 27 overdrafts totaling $6,553.

While other fiscal conservatives might suffer some embarrassment over such shortfalls, Rohrabacher is unabashed. “I personally feel sorry about one miscalculation on one check,” he said, referring to the one involving the wire transfer.

The rest, well, that’s how the system worked, he said.

Does he expect to take any political heat over the incidents? “Unless my political opponents intentionally lie about this, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” he said.

The National Taxpayers Union said Friday it has no plans to cancel its Taxpayer’s Friend Award to Rohrabacher. It, incidentally, is scheduled to be presented on April 14--the day before income tax returns are due.

“The award is simply for his outstanding voting record on spending and tax issues,” a spokesman said. “It has nothing to do with the House bank.”