Kucinich owes public funds used late in '04 run

[helderheid]

Friday, March 09, 2007
Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau

Washington - Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign didn't get many votes, but it did receive nearly $3.1 million in federal matching funds from taxpayers.

Now it has to return $137,358 of that money.

On Thursday, the Federal Elec tion Commission determined that Kucinich misused that much by continuing to campaign with federal money long past the point when he should have. That point precisely: March 4, 2004, when poor show ings in several consecutive prima ries disqualified Kucinich from cam paigning with money the federal government previously gave him.

The government provides limited matching funds to candidates who agree to abide by FEC guidelines and steadily get at least 10 percent of primary votes. Although Kucinich kept campaigning until John Kerry became the official Democratic Party nominee on July 29, 2004, the FEC said he wasn't qualified to use federal money past March 4.

The money the FEC wants from Kucinich includes $135,518 improperly spent for campaigning and $1,840 in small campaign contributions that were improperly documented at "pass the hat"-type fund-raisers. The FEC also found several other reporting errors that the campaign corrected.

Spokesmen for the Cleveland congressman say he'll appeal the decision.

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[blm]

1. Trust the Plain Dealer to hype it into a bigger story than it is.

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