Sharpton Fined by Federal Election Commission

1/27/2004

From: Ken Boehm of the National Legal and Policy Center, 703-237-1970, http://www.nlpc.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 -- Responding to a complaint filed by the ethics watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has determined that presidential candidate Al Sharpton violated federal election law by failing to file a statement of candidacy as well as financial disclosure reports on time.

According to a conciliation agreement between Sharpton and the FEC, accepted by the FEC on January 14, 2004 and released today by NLPC, the Sharpton campaign is being fined $5,500 for violating federal election laws.

NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm stated, "This is a clear-cut a violation of federal election law. Sharpton had been raising funds since August 2002 and unequivocally referring to himself as a candidate since October 2002. His claim that the law did not apply to him is absurd."

When NLPC filed the FEC complaint in April 2003, Sharpton attempted to argue that he did not need to file with the FEC until he formally announced his campaign. The NLPC complaint pointed out that not only had Sharpton raised and spent more than the $5,000 threshold but he was holding himself out to the public as a presidential candidate. The FEC agreed, citing the Sharpton autobiography Al on America published in October 2002, in which Sharpton repeatedly stated he was running for president.

The FEC found that the Sharpton campaign failed to file its 2002 year end and 2003 April quarterly reports on time, as well as failed to file a statement of candidacy and a statement of organization on time. Sharpton has 30 days from the FEC*s acceptance of the agreement to pay the $5,500 civil fine.

A copy of the complaint is available at http://www.nlpc.org. NLPC promotes ethics and accountability in public life through research, education and legal action.