Pierce County Democrats to pay $20k for breaking campaign finance law
Pierce County Democrats will pay more than $22,600 in fines and legal fees for breaking campaign-finance laws by repeatedly failing to properly report donations and spending over the course of three years.
The organization agreed to the penalty last week, according to a filing in Thurston County Court, after the state Attorney General’s Office sued the organization in August.
The county party’s civil penalty is $31,780, although half of it is suspended unless the group breaks campaign-finance rules again in the next four years, according to court records. The Pierce Democrats also are on the hook for $6,740 in legal fees.
The Attorney General’s Office in August had accused the organization of filing campaign finance reports late — or not at all — dozens of times between 2015 and 2017. The AG’s office said the Democrats didn’t properly report $90,358 in spending, $63,642 in contributions and $34,791 in debt.
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