Classic Mel Martinez: Screw Up and Blame the Staff
Thu Apr 19, 2007 at 01:45:38 PM PDT
U.S. Sen. Martinez violated election law in 2004 with oversized donations, audit finds
By Mark K. Matthews
Washington Bureau
April 19, 2007
WASHINGTON · Sen. Mel Martinez repeatedly violated federal election law during his 2004 campaign, including accepting donations that exceeded legal limits, a new audit shows.
The Florida Republican's campaign also failed to report enough information about its donors almost half of the time, according to a survey that was part of a broad Federal Election Commission investigation released Wednesday.
The Martinez campaign attributed the violations to poor bookkeeping, but Florida Democrats called the mistakes an example of bad leadership.
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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.
Whether the FEC findings would lead to civil penalties is unknown. In the audit, the commission notes it could "initiate an enforcement action, at a later time, to any of the matters discussed in this report."
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.
His campaign released a statement that said Martinez had learned from the mistakes and would adjust for the future.
Mark K. Matthews can be reached at 202-824-8222 or mmatthews@orlandosentinel.com.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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