Top Dem's committee fined $3.5K for campaign finance mistake caused by staffer's death

A top House Democrat’s campaign committee was slapped with a $3,500 fine over a filing mistake made as the group grappled with a consultant’s death, according to Federal Election Commission records and a source close to the campaign.

The committee raising funds for U.S. Rep Jim Clyburn (D-SC) mistakenly filed a financial disclosure report in October 2022 that didn't include about $62,100 in disbursements, according to a letter from the FEC.

A source close to the campaign told Raw Story the committee, Friends of Jim Clyburn, didn't know the consultant who helped draft the filing was sick until after she had been hospitalized.

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The error was remedied in a Dec. 2022 report to the FEC and the fine has already been paid, the source said Wednesday.

Rosa Marshall, of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Office, confirms the issue's conclusion in her Oct. 19 letter.

"This agreement resolves this matter," wrote Marshall. "I appreciate your assistance in effectively resolving this matter and bringing the case to a mutually acceptable conclusion."

The letter also confirms that a tragedy was to blame.

“The committee states that their compliance consultant’s serious illness and death led to the failure to disclose all financial activity,” the letter reads.

“The consultant had extensive experience with the preparation and filing of commission reports and had performed this responsibility for several years.”

Editor-in-chief Dave Leventhal contributed to this report.