Lieberman to pay $50K campaign finance penalty

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Friday agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty for campaign finance violations.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Lieberman’s 2006 reelection campaign and its treasurer, Lynn Fusco, made payments to get-out-the-vote canvassers of more than $100 in cash. Under FEC law, disbursements to individuals over $100 must be made in check form.

{mosads}The committee also failed to accurately document individuals it paid $200 or more over the course the year, another FEC requirement.

And Lieberman’s campaign misreported payments to two consultants as well as a $75,000 disbursement.

The FEC did not find that Lieberman engaged in any wrongdoing.

Lieberman spokeswoman Erika Masonhall noted that this is the first time Lieberman has been fined for a finance violation in 40 years of campaigning. She also pointed out that the violations were limited to the disbursements and record-keeping errors.

“Sen. Lieberman regrets those errors and will take all steps to ensure that it never happens again,” Masonhall said.

The infractions are all related to Lieberman’s filings during his 2006 campaign against Democratic challenger Ned Lamont. Lamont went on to defeat Lieberman in the Democratic primary; Lieberman then ran as an Independent and defeated Lamont in the general election.

The FEC found that Lieberman’s campaign made at least 600 payments to canvassers — totaling almost $122,000 — that exceeded the $100 cash limit.

It also paid 534 canvassers $200 or more in aggregate but did not properly document the expense.