Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has been fined $68,000 by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for campaign finance violations during her 2020 campaign. The FEC found that Waters’s campaign accepted $19,000 in excessive contributions and made $7,000 in prohibited cash disbursements, violating federal regulations, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The FEC’s conciliation agreement revealed that Waters’s campaign knowingly accepted contributions exceeding legal limits and issued cash payments over $100, which is prohibited. An attorney for the campaign acknowledged the errors, attributing them to limited staff and resources during the pandemic, and stated that the campaign had refunded or disgorged the excess contributions.
This is not the first time Waters’s campaign finances have come under scrutiny. Since 2004, her campaign has paid her daughter, Karen Waters, over $818,000 for managing slate mailers—endorsement mailers sent to voters. While the FEC issued an advisory opinion in 2004 allowing the practice, it has faced criticism for potential ethical concerns.
In response to the violations, Waters’s campaign has implemented new procedures to ensure financial accuracy and agreed to send its treasurer to an FEC-sponsored training program. The FEC unanimously voted to impose the fine on April 19.
Waters has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, urging her followers to “hit the streets and fight back” against him. In 2018, she encouraged supporters to confront Trump administration officials in public, stating, “If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd.”
Despite the fine and ongoing scrutiny, Waters has not publicly commented on the FEC’s findings. The California Democrat did not reply to reporters from the Free Beacon on the matter.
