FEC Slaps Obama Campaign With Massive Fine for 2008 Violations

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for reporting violations related to a set of donations received during the final days of the campaign. The infraction, which is historical in nature when considering its size, was first reported by POLITICO.

US President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One on January 2, 2013 upon arrival at Hickam Air Force Base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Obama returned to Hawaii to continue his vacation which he interrupted to deal with the 'fiscal cliff' crisis. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

The fines are among the largest ever levied on a presidential campaign by the FEC and stem from a series of missing filings for nearly 1,300 contributions totaling nearly $1.8 million. Campaigns are required to file the reports during the final weeks of the campaign. POLITICO has more:

The major sticking point for the FEC appeared to be a series of missing 48-hour notices for nearly 1,300 contributions totaling more than $1.8 million — an issue that lawyers familiar with the commission’s work say the FEC takes seriously. The notices must be filed on contributions of $1,000 or more that are received within the 20-day window of Election Day.

More than half of those contributions were transferred from the Obama Victory Fund, a joint committee between the campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Sources said the fine resulting from the settlement agreement has been paid, with $230,000 coming from the Obama campaign’s coffers and the remainder from the DNC.

The document outlined other violations, such as erroneous contribution dates on some campaign reports. The Obama campaign was also late returning some contributions that exceeded the legal limit.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Katie Hogan said the 2008 campaign had more than 3 million donors and "the very few outstanding questions have now all been resolved."

By many accounts, considering the historic size and scope of the campaign, these infractions are considered relatively minor. While the sum is certainly large, when juxtaposed against the size of campaign's coffers, some of the shock value dissipates.