GOP's Jim Jordan under investigation by FEC for campaign reports

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has fallen under investigation by the Federal Election Commission for questionable campaign fundraising reports.

The FEC has asked Jordan's campaign committee to explain large accounting discrepancies between reports filed several years ago and amended reports filed earlier this year, showing differences of hundreds of thousands of dollars, reported Cleveland.com.

"The campaign has filed an amendment with the FEC to correct its campaign finance reports going back to 2018," said Jordan's campaign manger Kevin Eichinger in a statement. "There was never any money missing from the account. In fact, the campaign's cash balance is actually higher than previously listed on the campaign finance reports. The error occurred when the former campaign treasurer inadvertently double-reported certain fundraising expenses. When the error was discovered, the campaign hired an outside expert to conduct a comprehensive audit and file the appropriate amendments."

The Ohio Republican's campaign blames the discrepancies on accounting difficulties that arose as donations poured in as Jordan's national profile rose during Donald Trump's presidency, and the committee filed more than a dozen amendments to old reports in January.

Jordan raised $733,416 in the two years before Trump took office and spent $422,967, leaving $1.2 million in his treasury, but his campaign took in $1,241,417 and spent $1,809,464 in the next two years -- mostly from Ohio -- as he became known as a fierce defender of the GOP president.

In the 2019-2020 election cycle, Jordan raked in $18,637,140 and spent $13,268,968, leaving him with more than $6 million in his war chest, and California became his top fundraising source, and Florida contributed almost as much as Ohio.

"The outpouring of nationwide support for our message is why we are raising a ton more money," Eichinger said. "It wasn't like we were actively looking to raise more money. There was an organic outpouring of support. We needed to put in place the operation to handle that kind of influx."