Maxine Waters Fined $68K for Campaign Finance Violations

California Democrat U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters is once again caught in a legal bind, this time for allegedly violating several campaign finance rules.

The Federal Election Commission accused Waters' 2020 campaign committee, Citizens for Waters, of "failing to accurately report both receipts and disbursements," "knowingly accepting excessive contributions," and "making prohibited cash disbursements."

A conciliation agreement sent by the FEC to the committee's treasurer on Friday outlined the alleged violations.

"During the 2020 calendar year, the Committee understated $262,391 in receipts and $256,154 in disbursements. The Committee untimely amended its reports to correct these errors," the signed agreement read.

The committee was further accused of accepting "excessive contributions from seven individuals totaling $19,000 that were not refunded, reattributed, or redesignated within the permissible timeframe." The agreement noted that the Waters campaign "did untimely refund or disgorge the excessive contributions."

"During the 2020 calendar year, the Committee made four prohibited cash disbursements that were each in excess of $100, totaling $7,000," the agreement added.

Waters' campaign agreed to cease and desist from committing such violations and pay a $68,000 civil penalty. As part of the agreement, the campaign treasurer will also attend a "Commission-sponsored training program for political committees."

In January 2024, Waters' campaign attorney, Leilani Beaver, responded to FEC's findings.

Beaver wrote, "The Committee acknowledges errors were made which were not willful or purposeful."

She attributed the "errors" to "limited staff availability and resources during the pandemic."

This is not the first time Waters' campaign has faced allegations of misused donations.

Waters was previously accused of using campaign finances to employ her daughter's company. Over a two-decade period, Waters' campaign gave the company $1.2 million in "slate mailer management fees."

The House Ethics Committee also accused Waters in 2010 of violating conflicts-of-interest rules by allegedly providing government assistance to a bank with ties to her husband. The committee ultimately dismissed the charges.