Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards could have more problems.
A draft audit by the Federal Election Commission is recommending that his 2008 presidential campaign repay about $2.3 million to the U.S. treasury from federal matching funds the campaign received.
The report found that $2.1 million given to the campaign in matching funds after Edwards dropped out of the race in January 2008 were “in excess of the candidate's entitlement.” Auditors say that Edwards' representatives have argued that payroll expenses in February 2008 were justified, and also that the costs of providing information to the federal Department of Justice for its criminal investigation of Edwards should be permissible campaign expenses.
Edwards' lawyers have also contended that the FEC was late in paying out money in 2008.
The audit also found that the campaign should pay $141,808 to the treasury for “stale-dated (uncashed) checks.” Most of that money was used to refund individual campaign contributions.
Auditors also said the campaign understated its cash-on-hand
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