Charles Taylor and His Campaign Pay $91,000 Penalty for Campaign Disclosure Violations

CHARLES TAYLOR AND HIS CAMPAIGN PAY $91,000 PENALTY FOR CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE VIOLATION

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission (Commission) announced today that it has reached a conciliation agreement with the Charles Taylor for Congress Committee (NC/11), its treasurer, and Mr. Taylor over their failure to file disclosures of his personal campaign spending during the 2004 campaign.  Respondents have agreed to pay a civil penalty totaling $91,000.

          The Federal Election Campaign Act requires disclosures to the Commission, opponents, and opponents’ national parties when candidates for the House of Representatives exceed $350,000 in personal spending for the campaign, and for each additional $10,000 spent thereafter. These provisions are typically referred to as the Millionaire’s Amendment, part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

          The Commission found that Charles Taylor for Congress failed to file the initial notification and four subsequent notices within 24 hours as the law requires. Between September 24 and November 2, 2004, Mr. Taylor made more than $800,000 in expenditures of personal funds (including both loans and contributions) for the 2004 general election campaign without proper disclosure.

This release contains only disposition information.

There are four administrative stages to the FEC enforcement process:

It requires the votes of at least four of the six Commissioners to take any action. The FEC can close a case at any point after reviewing a complaint.  If a violation is found and conciliation cannot be reached, then the FEC can institute a civil court action against a respondent.