A watchdog group on Thursday filed a complaint accusing Missouri Senate candidate Eric Greitens of campaign finance violations, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The Campaign Legal Center filed a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing the former Republican governor of improperly using more than $100,000 from his state campaign fund to pay for his US Senate bid.
The complaint says Greitens made illegal payments to a longtime aide that now serves as his campaign manager, to PR firms, and on digital media.
Federal law bans Senate candidates from using state campaign funds to run for federal office because contribution limits and other rules are different.
Greitens was previously fined $178,000 over violations from his 2016 gubernatorial run.
Former Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley also concluded that Greitens may have committed a felony by using his former charity’s donor list for political purposes without permission. Greitens was charged with felony tampering but the charges were dropped after he resigned in 2018.
Details:
The complaint says that Greitens spent $18,000 from his state account to launch a website for his campaign.
The complaint also says Greitens may have violated transparency rules by falsely describing the donation from his state account to his federal account as a personal donation.
“Therefore, there is reason to believe that Eric Greitens violated the ban on transferring nonfederal funds from his state campaign committee to his federal campaign committee,” the complaint says.
“While Greitens’ 2022 Senate campaign may only accept contributions of up to $2,900 per individual and, importantly, cannot receive corporate funds, his gubernatorial campaign raised dozens of contributions far exceeding that amount — some as much as $100,000 and above,” said Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform for Campaign Legal Center.
Greitens resigned in disgrace:
Greitens is attempting a comeback bid after he resigned amid scrutiny over his campaign tactics and revenge porn allegations.
Greitens still had more than $1.1 million in his state campaign fund when he resigned.
The CLC says Greitens used $50,000 to pay his now-campaign manager and tens of thousands on advertising and consulting.
"The agency needs to take action against Eric Greitens and both campaign committees for this blatantly illegal spending," the group said in a press release.
