FEC warns Payne of potential legal action over faulty campaign finance filings

The Federal Election Commission warned it may take legal action against Rep. Donald Payne (D-Newark) over deficient campaign finance filings the congressman submitted last year.

In three separate requests for additional information, the Commission pointed to problems with post-general, October quarterly and July quarterly filings Payne submitted last year.

The watchdog’s chief concern is Payne’s post general filing, where the commission believes it has uncovered seven different types of campaign finance violations.

For one, Payne’s campaign committee donated $2,500 to five other candidate committees, donations that run foul of the $2,000 limit on such transfers. One of the other candidates, Rep. Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.), later returned $500.

The congressman also reported receiving $8,250 in contributions after election day. FEC rules allow candidates to collect post-election contributions and report them for that election only to pay down debts, of which Payne’s committee had none.

He appears to have accepted too much money from the IBEW PAC Voluntary fund, which gave him $5,000 in August and October. FEC rules limit PACs to donating $5,000 to a given candidate per given election.

The commission said Payne failed to file 48-hour reports, which are required to be made in the final days of an election, for four donations totaling $11,500.

They include $5,000 from the Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee on Oct. 16, $3,000 from the National Association of Realtors PAC on Oct. 23, $2,500 from the American Federation of Teachers COPE on Oct. 26 and $1,000 from the POWERPAC of the Edison Electrical Institute on Oct. 30.

Separately, Payne filed a 48-hour notice for a $2,500 donation from the Amazon PAC. The transaction appears on Payne’s post-general filing, but the dates don’t line up. The 48-hour notice said he received it on Oct. 22, while the post-general filing says it was given on Oct. 17.

The FEC also said the congressman received too much money from Jennifer Stewart, a Washington D.C. lobbyist, but that doesn’t appear to be a violation. Stewart gave Payne’s campaign $1,500 on July 1, following it with two donations collectively worth $2,800 in early November.

New Jersey typically holds its primary elections in June, but Gov. Phil Murphy delayed those races until July 7 because of the pandemic last year. Contribution limits apply to each election individually, with primary and general elections each subject to separate $2,800 limits.

The FEC also warned Payne over a $500 donation from a campaign committee belonging to State Sen. Ron Rice (D-Newark), which is not registered with the FEC, and over a handful of donations made through ActBlue that did not include required donor information.

He received a warning identical to the latter in a request for additional information filed against his July quarterly report.

The FEC’s final notice said Payne failed to file 48-hour disclosures for two donations made on July 1 and July 2, together worth $2,500.