WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Federal Election Commission has issued a fine of $37,000 against United States Attorney General John Ashcroft's 2000 campaign committee for the U.S. Senate and his political action committee, the Spirit of America PAC, for violations of federal campaign finance law during the 2000 election. The FEC's action, which occurred on Dec. 11, 2003, and became public today, comes in the midst of a federal lawsuit brought by a coalition of campaign reform groups and Missouri voters that accused the FEC of excessive delay in investigating the violations. The FEC's "conciliation agreement" with the Ashcroft committees, released today, reveals that John Ashcroft was directly involved in the circumstances leading to the violations.
The plaintiffs in the case, who had originally filed an administrative complaint against the agency alleging the violations by Ashcroft's political committees, announced today that they will file a new federal lawsuit against the FEC for not adequately enforcing the law. They also said they are considering filing a complaint with the United States Justice Department for a criminal investigation of the matter.
"The Federal Election Commission's action in this case is a farce," says Bonnie Tenneriello, an attorney with the National Voting Rights Institute and co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
"John Ashcroft's political committees, and possibly John Ashcroft himself, engaged in serious violations of federal campaign finance law during the 2000 election. The FEC's fine is merely a slap on the wrist." "No one is above the law," said Tenneriello, "not even the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. We will pursue this matter further to ensure that the law is properly enforced against those who committed these violations."
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http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=116-12172003