FEC and Progress for America Voter Fund reach a $750,000 settlement
The FEC announces: The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced today that it has reached a settlement with the Progress for America Voter Fund (PFA-VF), a 527 organization accused of violating Federal campaign finance laws during the 2004 Presidential election. PFA-VF agreed to pay $750,000 to settle charges that it failed to register and file disclosure reports as a Federal political committee and accepted contributions in violation of Federal limits and source prohibitions. This represents the third largest civil penalty in the Commission’s thirty-two year history. The Commission unanimously approved the conciliation agreement.
“This settlement demonstrates once again that the Commission is serious about enforcing the campaign finance law,” said FEC Chairman Robert Lenhard. “It should now be clear to organizations that want to be active in the 2008 cycle that the activities we saw in this case are prohibited under the law.”
PFA-VF raised $44.9 million in contributions in the months preceding the 2004 General Election. Over $41 million of those funds consisted of excessive contributions from individuals, while over $2 million came from sources prohibited from making contributions under the Act. PFA-VF funded over $31.1 million in communications related to the 2004 General Election, including television and radio advertisements, direct mailings, email communications, and Internet banner ads. Certain communications expressly advocated either the election of President George W. Bush or the defeat of Senator John Kerry, constituting expenditures under the Act. -- 0228MUR5487
Thanks to Brett Kappel for sending me the link to this.