Gephardt for President audit

On May 31, 2007, the Commission approved the final audit report of Gephardt for President, Inc. (the Committee). Gephardt for President, Inc. was the principal campaign committee of Representative Richard A. Gephardt, a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 2004.

The Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act (the Matching Payment Act) requires the Commission to audit political committees that receive public funding in order to ensure that those funds were spent in accordance with Commission rules and that accurate reports were filed by those committees. If a committee received funds in excess of its entitlement, incurred non-qualified campaign expenses, had surplus funds or committed an apparent violation of the law, the committee must repay public funds to the U.S. Treasury, as determined by the Commission.

The Committee received $4,104,320 in federal matching funds.

The Committee's audit included four findings and recommendations, three of which resulted in payments owed to the U.S. Treasury totaling $323,102. The audit found that the committee:

• Received federal matching funds in excess of its entitlement;
• Received contributions that exceeded the 2004 contribution limits; and
• Has outstanding stale-dated checks.

Funds in excess of entitlement

Under the Matching Payment Act, a candidate who receives matching funds for the primary elections must submit a statement of "net outstanding campaign obligations" within 15 days of his or her date of ineligibility to receive further matching fund payments. However, the candidate may continue to receive matching fund payments if he or she still has net outstanding campaign obligations.

Representative Gephardt's date of ineligibility was January 20, 2004. The Committee's estimated winding down costs were substantially higher than the actual amount the committee spent. Thus, the Commission determined that $250,304 in funds in excess of the Committee's entitlement must be repaid to the U.S. Treasury.

Excessive contributions

The Commission also determined that the Committee failed to resolve $60,556 in excessive contributions and must therefore pay that amount to the U.S. Treasury.

Expenditures in excess of Iowa spending limit

Candidates who receive matching funds must comply with state-by-state spending limits. The Audit staff determined that the Committee exceeded the spending limit in Iowa despite measures the committee had taken to ensure that it spent within the limits. The Commission determined that the Committee was not required make repayments based on these expenditures.

Stale-dated checks

The Commission identified staledated (uncashed) checks issued by the Committee totaling approximately $12,242. The Commission determined that this amount is payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Copies of the audit reports are available on the FEC's web site at https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/enforcement/audit-reports/.