Boston Globe: Joe Kennedy III campaign says it improperly spent $1.5 million in Senate primary

The campaign of Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III said Friday that it improperly spent $1.5 million of donations intended for the general election during the final weeks of his bitter and ultimately unsuccessful primary challenge to Senator Edward J. Markey.

The spending was a clear violation of federal campaign finance rules, which prohibit candidates from using general election money on expenses for the primary.

In a statement to the Globe, Kennedy said he did not know the campaign had been improperly spending general election funds during the primary, and that the violation came to his attention shortly after the Sept. 1 election. Kennedy said he reimbursed his campaign with $1.5 million of his own money in late September to cover all of the improperly spent funds.

The Globe asked a top campaign finance expert to weigh in on the Kennedy campaign’s disclosure. “The rule is clear: You cannot spend general election funds prior to the primary,” said Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, a campaign watchdog group. …

“Our contribution limits are intended to safeguard against corruption or even the appearance of corruption. They’re intended to prevent wealthy individuals from having undue influence over candidates and officeholders,” said Ryan.

Ryan said in the 20 years he’s spent watching money in politics, he can’t recall an instance of a high-profile candidate such as Kennedy committing this sort of campaign finance violation.

And he said improperly spending $1.5 million is “significant” considering it accounts for close to 10 percent of the $15.6 million the Kennedy campaign spent through September, according to the latest federal filings.

Still, Ryan applauded the way the Kennedy campaign has responded, admitting the mistake and self-reporting to the FEC.

It remains unclear how the FEC will respond. The agency currently lacks enough commissioners to have a quorum to meet, which means it cannot carry out enforcement actions.

Ryan said, most likely, the Kennedy campaign would face a fine, which is likely to be reduced given it self-reported the violation. He did not think it likely that the FEC would find criminal enforcement appropriate, which requires proof of a “knowing and willful violation.”