BREAKING: Audit uncovers 2004 federal election law violations by Sen. Mel Martinez (also RNC head) [View All]

[seafan]

From today's Orlando Sentinel:


Mark K. Matthews | Washington Bureau
April 19, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida repeatedly violated federal election law during his 2004 campaign, including accepting donations that exceeded legal limits, a new audit shows.
The Republican's campaign also failed to report enough information about its donors nearly half of the time, according to a survey that was part of a broad Federal Election Commission probe released Wednesday.

The Martinez campaign attributed the violations to poor bookkeeping, but a spokesman for Florida Democrats called the mistakes an example of bad leadership.
Researched for more than a year, the FEC audit details four violations committed by Martinez during a campaign that raised about $12 million to narrowly defeat Democrat Betty Castor.

.....

The FEC found that the "Martinez for Senate" committee accepted more than $300,000 in donations that exceeded legal limits. Most of these 186 violations were the result of improper filing.

.....

The audit also said Martinez did not properly disclose proceeds from fundraising efforts with other politicians and did not keep complete records on the identity of many contributors. Campaigns are required to disclose a contributor's occupation or employers. Martinez did not report these facts about 46 percent of the time, according to a FEC test sample.

His campaign released a statement that said Martinez had learned from the mistakes and would adjust for the future.

Florida Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski said it's another sign that Martinez could not manage his staff -- citing one incident in which a Martinez staff member wrote a memo detailing how the Terri Schiavo controversy could be used for political gain.
"This guy doesn't know what's happening underneath him, and that's especially concerning because he has two jobs now, as a senator and head of the (Republican National Committee)," Bubriski said.

And from the Tampa Tribune:

April 19, 2007

This year, at the behest of President Bush, the first-term senator also became chairman of the national Republican Party.

The Tampa Tribune revealed the problems with Martinez's campaign finances in a November 2005 story.

According to notices sent by the Federal Election Commission, the Tribune reported then, it was impossible a year after the election for the campaign to accurately report how much money it had raised, spent and owed. At that time, an attorney representing Martinez acknowledged that the reports to the commission were "not done with the precision that was required." Martinez also hired a Tampa accounting firm with expertise in campaign finance laws to redo financial reports to the commission.

Such audits can lead to a fine or other penalty by the commission.

Why does the specter of money laundering influencing elections come to mind?