Rep. Maxine Waters’ campaign has agreed to pay a $68,000 fine after a Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigation revealed multiple violations tied to her 2020 campaign.
The FEC found that the California Democrat’s campaign committee, Citizens for Waters, broke several election laws. According to documents released Friday, the committee failed to accurately report financial activity, accepted excessive donations, and made prohibited cash disbursements.
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The campaign reached a legally binding agreement with the FEC, allowing both sides to avoid litigation. As part of the settlement, the committee will pay the civil fine and send its treasurer to an FEC-approved training for political committees within a year.
The probe determined that Citizens for Waters accepted $19,000 in excessive contributions from seven individuals during 2019 and 2020. At the time, the individual contribution limit was $2,800. Although the campaign eventually refunded the overages, the FEC noted the refunds were delayed.
In addition, the FEC cited four cash disbursements over $100—totaling $7,000—as violations, since such cash payments are restricted under federal law.
Waters’ committee claimed it had hired legal counsel to guide the treasurer and implemented new procedures to comply with federal requirements.
In a letter to the FEC last year, Citizens for Waters’ attorney Leilani Beaver argued the violations were unintentional and not done willfully.
Waters, who has served in Congress since 1991 and is the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, has faced scrutiny before. A 2023 Fox News Digital report found that her campaign paid her daughter $192,300 between January 2021 and December 2022 for managing a “slate mailer” operation.
In 2018, a complaint accusing the campaign of accepting illegal donations was dismissed by the FEC in a 5-1 vote.
