The campaign for California Democrat Maxine Waters agreed to pay over $68,000 in fines over a litany of campaign finance violations.
Citizens for Waters, her 2020 re-election campaign, was caught making false financial reports, "knowingly" taking excessive contributions and distributing prohibited cash disbursements, according to a settlement agreement with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
In addition to paying the fine, Waters' campaign must send its treasurer, David Gould, to attend a training on campaign finance.
"Respondent shall submit evidence of the required registration and attendance at such event to the Commission," the document said.
The Waters campaign accepted "excessive contributions from seven individuals totaling $19,000 that were not refunded, reattributed, or redesignated within the permissible timeframe," the FEC found, while noting the contributions were eventually returned "untimely."
The campaign also "understated $262,391 in receipts and $256,164 in disbursements" and "made four prohibited cash disbursements that were each in excess of $100, totaling $7,000."
"The Committee contends that it began using new software to prepare campaign statements immediately following the 2019-2020 cycle and has filed amendments to Further, the Committee contends that it has retained legal counsel to provide advice and guidance to the Treasurer and implemented procedures to ensure the financial accuracy of reports," the FEC's report says.
The news was first reported by OpenSecrets, which noted that an attorney for the Waters campaign blamed the discrepancies on "limited staff availability and resources" during the COVID pandemic.
The FEC settlement is the latest financial scandal involving Waters, who has a long history of blatant self-dealing through her campaigns.
Waters' campaign has consistently paid thousands of dollars to a company run by Waters' daughter for slate mailer services. Since 2003, Karen Waters has received $1.2 million in cash from her mother's campaigns.
With that in mind, a $68,000 fine is a slap on the wrist. But it's a rare instance of accountability, however small, for one of the most brazenly corrupt members of Congress.
At the ripe old age of 86, it appears unlikely that Waters will ever change her ways. After all, voters in her overwhelmingly Democratic district have consistently re-elected her since she entered Congress in the 1990s. She has been the top Democrat on the powerful House Financial Services Committee for more than a decade.
Her political durability has no doubt convinced her that she is above the law. We can predict that this probably won't be the last time we hear about Maxine Waters breaking the rules.
