CREW Raises Objections Over Three FEC Reports

20 Feb 2007 // A government watchdog group has asked the Federal Election Commission to look into whether Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) violated campaign finance laws by failing to properly identify their political donors.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the organization that last year helped publicize the improper relationships between then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and male House pages, claims Coburn failed to file roughly $350,000 in disclosures on time in 2004, which the FEC itself discovered during a recent audit. The group also alleges that Musgrave did not file on time disclosures for nearly $20,000 in donations and suggested Diaz-Balart deliberately did not disclose the contributions of 32 individuals.

“Campaigns are not entitled to hide the identities of their top donors until elections are over,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. “Voters have a right to this information and the FEC should come down hard on campaigns that refuse to provide it. One has to wonder what these candidates were trying to hide from their constituents.”