The Rev. Al Sharpton is pushing back against a New York Post article that claims he was "slapped with a record $285,000 fine for violating a slew of federal election rules during his 2004 bid for president."
According to the Post, a Federal Election Commission will announce in May that Sharpton's Democratic primary campaign accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from private sources, as well as "kept poor records of its activities and expenditures" and commingled funds with Sharpton's civil-rights group, the National Action Network. All are prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Sharpton released a statement early Sunday accusing the Post of trying to "smear" his name on the heels of FEC's fine, which followed an investigation based on a complaint by the National Legal and Policy Center, a Virginia-based watchdog group referred to in Sharpton's statement as "right wing."
The statement read: "First, the settlement makes clear that there is no evidence of criminality or intentional wrongdoing by National Action Network, Reverend Sharpton or his campaign. Second, even the initial civil fine proposed by the FEC of $500,000 was reduced by nearly 50% once it knew all of the facts. Third, contradicting the Post headline that the settlement is a 'record 285G fine' it is, in fact, far from it.
"For example, Freddie Mac paid $3.8 million in fines to the FEC, and the FEC had a $750,000 settlement -- almost 3 times the fine here -- with the Republican George Bush connected group American Voter Fund. Another right wing group, the Citizens Club for Growth paid $350,000 for campaign violations during the same election cycle, and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had a higher fine than the one here."
According to the Post, the FEC found that Sharpton racked up $509,188 in campaign expenses on his American Express card. His campaign committee paid $121,996, but the bulk was paid by the National Action Network and two private corporations controlled by Sharpton. A further $65,000 was paid by unknown sources, the FEC investigation found.
Sharpton also received "excessive in-kind contributions" from La-Van Hawkins, a wealthy supporter and principal of the now-defunct Hawkins Food Group. Hawkins hosted a 2003 fund-raising dinner for Sharpton at his home in Atlanta and flew him to the event on his company jet. The total cost of the flight and the fundraiser -- which featured Cristal champagne at $200 a bottle and fresh crab cakes and beef tenderloin for 60 guests -- was estimated at more than $12,000, but was not reported by the Sharpton campaign. The FEC requires the disclosure of all in-kind contributions over $1,000.
Source: EURWeb
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