F.E.C fines Republican Group $750,000

March 1, 2007
F.E.C fines Republican Group $750,000

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 — A major conservative group agreed to pay a $750,000 penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Election Commission, which found that the group violated campaign finance laws by spending more than $30 million on advertisements and mailings supporting President Bush's re-election.

The fine was the third largest in the agency's 32-year-history. The settlement reflects a crackdown in the last several months on the political activities of so-called 527 groups — named after a section of the tax law — that surfaced in the 2004 election as a powerful force, raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in unregulated contributions through a loophole in the law.