De Blasio's Money Moves Broke Campaign Finance Law, Watchdog Says

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio ran afoul of federal law by using a state election fund to help his cash-strapped presidential campaign, a good-government group says.

The Democratic mayor busted a federal contribution limit and wrongly spent state campaign money to support his 2020 bid, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a conservative watchdog group, alleged in a Thursday complaint to the Federal Election Commmission.

The complaint calls on the FEC to probe de Blasio's use of his state political committee, NY Fairness PAC, and "take appropriate enforcement action" to address violations of the law.

"There is no grey area here," FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold said in a statement. "You simply can’t use a state PAC as a slush fund for a presidential campaign. De Blasio has improperly called this a loan, but it is clearly a contribution."

Arnold's complaint follows a barrage 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.

The mayor's federal campaign reported the expenses as a $52,851 "loan" from the state committee. But FEC rules say state committees that don't support multiple candidates can only contribute up to $2,800 to a federal campaign, according to Arnold's complaint.

The so-called loan busted that limit by about $50,000, Arnold wrote. The state PAC also shelled out $19,964 to cover half the cost of de Blasio's campaign announcement video and another $9,130 for digital services after he launched his 2020 bid, the complaint says.

"De Blasio used his state PAC to fund his presidential campaign, spent non-federal funds to support his federal campaign and de Blasio 2020 accepted excessive contributions from NY Fairness PAC," Arnold wrote in the complaint. "If the Commission does not act and punish a clear violation, then the laws are without purpose."

In repsonse to the complaint, de Blasio campaign spokesperson Olivia Lapeyrolerie said, "We’re confident we followed the rules."

De Blasio 2020 claimed two weeks ago that the mayor's presidential launch video was not a campaign expense because the company that made it "was set to produce a video regardless of whether or not the mayor ran," according to Politico New York.

The federal complaint follows 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 to his campaign 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."