August 28th, 2009
02:40 PM ET
14 years ago

Palin's PAC forced to correct FEC filing

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/18/art.palin0818.gi.jpg caption=" Palin's PAC is correcting a number of FEC errors."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sarah Palin's political action committee violated federal election laws with two donations earlier this year and filed a mid-year report with a number of errors in it, according to the Federal Election Commission.

In a five-page letter to SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford, the FEC highlights a number of issues with the filed report, including donating more than is allowed to the reelection campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Lisa Murkowski, as well as not providing proper descriptions on how some of the PAC's money was spent.

Contacted by CNN, Crawford said the committee was currently revising the report to fix the errors and said these types of mistakes are not uncommon with FEC filings.

"A million of these [correction letters] go out every month," Crawford said. "They send out a lot of them.

A spokesman for the FEC said its standard practice for all reports to be reviewed, but would not estimate how many PAC's usually have to file corrections.

Specifically, the FEC notes SarahPAC gave $5,000 to McCain and Murkowski's primary campaigns - $2,600 more than is allowed for a PAC of SarahPAC's designation to give to a primary effort. SarahPAC also designated the donation for the senators' 2009 primary when in fact the primaries are in 2010.

To fix the error, Crawford said the PAC will allocate $2,400 to the senators' primary campaigns and $2,400 to the general election effort as is allowed under election laws. The PAC has also obtained a $200 refund from both campaigns to make up the difference.

"We essentially gave $200 too much," Crawford said. "We have since redesignated with both committees."

Crawford attributed some of the mistakes to being a new PAC and also noted FEC software that was supposed to flag mistakes when reports are initially submitted showed no errors with their filing.

"We filed what we thought was perfectly right," Crawford said. "If there is a violation, the FEC won't accept the report, but ours was accepted with no warnings or violations."

SarahPAC has until September 24 to file an amended report.

Follow Alex Mooney on twitter @awmooneyCNN


Filed under: Sarah Palin
soundoff (301 Responses)
  1. Honest Abe

    sounds very much like those good republican/conservative values of: lying, cheating, maybe even stealing. what a bunch of frauds.

    August 28, 2009 12:50 pm at 12:50 pm |
  2. Alfred E. Neumann

    Another day and another non story by CNN ripping into Sarah Palin.

    August 28, 2009 12:50 pm at 12:50 pm |
  3. Mycatgavemetheevileye

    Dan Quayle laughs at her.

    August 28, 2009 12:50 pm at 12:50 pm |
  4. Timmy

    She looks like a turkey in that picture, doesn't she?

    August 28, 2009 12:51 pm at 12:51 pm |
  5. New Age Republican

    So much hate from the Right...sad, pathetic and disheartening.

    August 28, 2009 12:51 pm at 12:51 pm |
  6. jon

    Funny how CNN runs with this story but you can't find the story on Charlie Rangel and his hundreds of thousands of dollars of income that he never claimed on his taxes and the continuing investigation. Just another Government Tax Evader that's protected by the mainstream media!!!!

    August 28, 2009 12:51 pm at 12:51 pm |
  7. Brian52

    OMG, Sarah as VP. Good thing we got Joe the Biden.

    August 28, 2009 12:51 pm at 12:51 pm |
  8. S.B.T.

    So much extreme conservative stupidity… It's sad and pathetic.

    August 28, 2009 12:51 pm at 12:51 pm |
  9. Rickster

    RWINGNUTS: ACORN did zippo compared to what happened in Florida during Bush's run for re-election. And what happened in Florida directly affected the outcome of the election. Ever look at the numbers of the last election? McCAIN/PAIN lost by HUGE numbers.
    This is the kind of crap that republikans take for news...nut job conspiracy theories.

    You better watch out! The UN troops are massing at your trailer door.

    August 28, 2009 12:52 pm at 12:52 pm |
  10. debbie

    She is definitely Presidential material. Yup.

    August 28, 2009 12:53 pm at 12:53 pm |
  11. KirksNoseHair

    Please Sarah, run against Obama in the next Presidential election. PLEASE. This way, he will DEFINITELY get two terms.

    August 28, 2009 12:54 pm at 12:54 pm |
  12. Shucks

    It's so easy to pick on Palin. After the last year of her holier than thou attitude she is ripe for the picking. Don't put yourself out there so self sanctimoniously and expect people to act any differently when you fall on your face, or screw up almost weekly. We democrats hold her up as the best the republican party has to offer. At least that's what alot of them still say. She is our comedic entertainment.

    August 28, 2009 12:54 pm at 12:54 pm |
  13. Richard L

    "A million of these [correction letters] go out every month"

    He pulled a Palin and just made that up.

    August 28, 2009 12:54 pm at 12:54 pm |
  14. Barbara

    When I first saw Sara Palin, I thought how pretty she is, down right
    beautiful – then she opened her mouth. Need I say more? She is an ugly witch.

    August 28, 2009 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm |
  15. Popduds.com

    Sarah Pain is an idiot, so are her supporters. Forever and ever, amen.

    August 28, 2009 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm |
  16. 30m-PA-Dem

    CNN, why are you so obsessed with Sarah Palin?!

    August 28, 2009 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm |
  17. RF-NJ

    Hmmm. I wonder what Paris Hilton is up to............

    August 28, 2009 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm |
  18. Ken in Pisgah Forest

    It's time to let lying dogs sleep? It's getting so I hate to look at the headlines for fear she will be in them.

    August 28, 2009 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm |
  19. Reggie

    Not a big deal. Wouldn't even have made the news if it wasn't connected Gov Palin. People are fascinated by this woman and everythiing she does....

    August 28, 2009 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm |
  20. dizizcamron

    for god sake please stop reporting on the mundane technicalities of this private citizens life. this is all so beyond relevant. she MIGHT run for office 3 years from now, and will almost certainly leave the race quickly. the only reason CNN reports this meaningless tripe is because they are 3rd in the ratings among cable news and she always gets a reaction from people who either love to love her or love to hate her. either way its just stupid celebrity gossip at this point, and in no way informative about anything political. over half of the comments in the recent "news ticker" pieces about her are people asking CNN to stop reporting on these meaningless details of her activities. nothing going on with her right now is relevant to a national audience. IF she runs in 2012, report on this crap then.

    August 28, 2009 12:56 pm at 12:56 pm |
  21. Rob from Texas

    No surprise at all coming from the Palin camp. This woman surely has the dirty side of Politics down, just not the political knowledge side of it. This is just a train wreck that never ends.

    August 28, 2009 12:56 pm at 12:56 pm |
  22. to: Brian52

    you defend this moronic woman! CNN puts this info out to show everyone how much republicans will lie and do absolutely anything to gain control. you are no more than a dumb pawn (much less intelligent than Palin). Do you make more than $250,000 p/'yr? Why then do you continue to support a party that goes against your socio-economic interests? I know... STUPIDITY and something else.... what might that be????

    August 28, 2009 12:56 pm at 12:56 pm |
  23. SkiDoc

    Keep it up, liberal media........just like the "protesting mobs" against health care. You are slowly but surely losing the battle. Rock on, Sarah

    You betcha!!!!

    August 28, 2009 12:56 pm at 12:56 pm |
  24. Mark

    This is why the Fair Tax Act needs to pass.

    Filing taxes is very coplicated. How many top leaders from both parties have recently, with in the last couple of years, have not filed properly or forgotten to claim items, or disclose numbers on their tax forms.

    August 28, 2009 12:57 pm at 12:57 pm |
  25. Unemployed for too long

    Sarah can't seem to get the lying, criminal routine down very well. Every time she draws a breath she embarrasses herself and America. And the scope of her attempted criminality is on a par with stealing from children. Sarah, don't mistake the clamorings of a handful of idiots and / or profiteers as the voice of the nation.
    Most of us think you're a real under achiever.

    August 28, 2009 12:58 pm at 12:58 pm |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13