A Clinton Fund-Raising Group Is Fined for Understating Gifts

[papau]

http://www.nysun.com/article/25343
A Clinton Fund-Raising Group Is Fined for Understating Gifts
BY JOSH GERSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
January 5, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/25343
A fund-raising committee for Senator Clinton's 2000 campaign has agreed to pay a $35,000 civil penalty and to concede that reports it made to the federal government understated by more than $700,000 donations to a California celebrity gala held to benefit her Senate bid.
A Republican campaign finance lawyer, Jan Baran, said of the settlement, "$35,000 is not chopped liver but it's not a big amount at the FEC."…

Mr. Baran said the committees had a duty to fix their filings promptly if they were wrong. "If you're on notice that something that you previously reported is inaccurate, you're expected to amend your reports," he said.

<snip>The $35,000 penalty assessed against New York Senate 2000 is relatively mild compared to others imposed by the Federal Election Commission. In 2003, Senator Schumer's 1998 re-election bid was fined $130,000. In 1999, a committee supporting Republicans running for federal office in New York was hit with a $128,000 penalty.

The Clintons are also facing a civil suit from Paul in which he claims the campaign contributions were part of a scheme to defraud him and interfere with his business dealings. Paul asserts that Mr. Clinton promised to join the board of Stan Lee Media but backed out of the deal and contributed to the company's failure. A California appeals court recently gave Mrs. Clinton another chance to be dismissed from the suit, but it appears the litigation against Mr. Clinton will move forward even if she is dropped from the case.

[jasmeel]

1. How nice for the Freepers

[papau]

2. It does screw up their plan to get Clinton into Court - she will now be

removed from the Paul case.