De Blasio Accused Of Shady Fundraising Tactics Again

NEW YORK — A watchdog group accused Mayor Bill de Blasio's presidential campaign of using shady fundraising tactics for the second time in a week on Wednesday.

The mayor's 2020 campaign flouted federal law by letting more than two dozen deep-pocketed donors give thousands of dollars to political action committees that helped lay the groundwork for his White House bid, the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center alleged in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission.

"The de Blasio campaign appears to have concocted a shell game to arrange for a small number of wealthy donors to illegally support de Blasio’s presidential run above and beyond legal contribution limits," Brendan Fischer, the center's federal reform director, said in a news release.

The complaint came just six days after the conservative-leaning Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust accused de Blasio of using a state PAC to skirt federal contribution limits.

Both complaints involve the NY Fairness PAC, a state-level committee de Blasio purportedly established to help elect other progressive Democrats. He also set up a similar federal committee simply called Fairness PAC.

At least 25 donors gave $2,500 to both Fairness PAC and NY Fairness PAC as well as a maximum $2,800 donation to de Blasio 2020, the mayor's proper presidential campaign account, leading up to the launch of de Blasio's White House bid, the Campaign Legal Center's complaint says.

De Blasio 2020 also failed to disclose at least $192,000 in expenses that the state and federal PACs paid to support the mayor's "testing the waters for, or otherwise in connection with, his presidential run," according to the complaint.

The Federal Election Commission should investigate the alleged violations and slap the mayor's campaign and his PACs with any "appropriate sanctions," the complaint says.

"We will review the complaint," de Blasio campaign spokesperson Olivia Lapeyrolerie said in an email.

The watchdogs' complaints came after a series of news reports raising questions about de Blasio's use of the state fund to pay for rent, travel and digital advertising for his longshot presidential campaign.

They also follow state and federal prosecutors' previous probes into de Blasio's fundraising tactics in New York. While the mayor never faced charges himself, three high-profile donors pleaded guilty to or were convicted of bribery and fraud, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said de Blasio acted against "the intent and spirit of the laws."

De Blasio was among the weakest fundraisers in the crowded Democratic presidential field last month. He raised close to $1.1 million in his campaign's first six weeks, roughly as much as South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg received in four hours.