The Federal Election Commission slapped three committees associated with former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's failed 2020 presidential bid with a $53,100 fine on Thursday, closing out a complaint filed in 2019.
In the closing letter from the FEC, they found de Blasio’s official campaign committee admitted it accepted $52,851.89 from his state NY Fairness PAC for travel and digital services, and $123,000 from his federal Fairness PAC for polling related to "testing the waters," a reference to the period before the official campaign launch.
The FEC ordered the committees to pay a $53,100 fine and file amended reports to the FEC within 30 days.
A spokesperson for de Blasio’s committees has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The nonprofit Campaign Legal Center filed the complaint in 2019 with federal officials in connection with donations made to de Blasio’s 2020 presidential campaign committee and the two political action committees supporting his bid for the Democratic nomination.
The complaint focused on the former mayor’s official presidential campaign, De Blasio 2020, and the two PACs. The FEC found that both worked in coordination to raise money and pay for expenses that benefited de Blasio’s presidential bid and the testing the waters phase.
The CLC alleged the committees accepted thousands of dollars in contributions over and above the limits set by campaign finance laws and then failed to identify the contributors in the reporting. The group described the scenario as a “shell game” that allowed a few wealthy donors to exceed contribution limits in support of de Blasio's campaign.
De Blasio ran a brief six-month presidential campaign, officially entering the race in May 2019. After struggling to gain momentum and failing to garner enough support to participate in that October's Democratic presidential debate, de Blasio suspended his campaign.
