The Federal Election Commission wants congressional hopeful Wright McLeod to fill gaps in a recent campaign finance report.
Failure to do so by July 23, an FEC letter told the 12th Congressional District hopeful, may result in an audit or enforcement action.
Audits can lead to enforcement actions that sometimes trigger fines — or, in rare cases — referral for criminal prosecution.
The 12th has drawn national attention because boundary changes have tilted it toward the Republicans and led incumbent Democrat John Barrow to move from Savannah to Augusta.
The letter follows a complaint to the FEC by Augusta businessman Rick Allen.
McLeod and Allen are among the four Republicans seeking to oust Barrow and were the top GOP fundraisers as of March 31.
The letter stems from a normal staff review of McLeod’s report — not the complaint — said FEC spokeswoman Judith Ingram. Commission letters about pending complaints are confidential, Ingram said.
McLeod spokeswoman Holly Croft called the letter “a routine administrative request for more information that numerous campaigns also received.”
She cited requests for more information the FEC sent Allen and state Rep. Lee Anderson of Grovetown, another GOP candidate in the 12th.
But the letter to McLeod supports a key contention in the complaint — that McLeod’s report didn’t say who received $51,159 described merely as “payroll.”
By law, the letter notes, congressional campaigns must name and provide other information about people paid more than $200 in a calendar year.
McLeod, an Augusta attorney, said recently that “we only listed it as payroll, which is what we were told the law requires.”
After the complaint surfaced, he gave news media the names of payees and said he’d amend his report if the FEC told him to.
Asked whether McLeod would do so now, Croft didn’t respond.
But she said the FEC letter “is not the hatchet job under the guise of a meritless ethics complaint that our opponent has leveled against us.”
But Scott Paradise, Allen’s campaign manager, said the FEC “has confirmed what we’ve believed for some time — Wright McLeod is in clear violation of the law.
“Instead of continuing to try to cover up these violations, it’s time that Wright McLeod finally tell the truth by admitting that he made major mistakes, including stealing our campaign’s donor list.”
The complaint also says McLeod’s campaign illegally took names and addresses from Allen’s finance reports and used them for fundraising letters.
McLeod says he didn’t.
He also denies the complaint’s claim he under-reported the fair rental value of office space four people donated to the campaign. As a result, Allen says, each exceeded the $2,500 contribution limit for the primary.
The letter to McLeod also covers another issue in the complaint — that McLeod’s report inadequately described outlays for office supplies and other items. It also sought more information on matters not discussed in the complaint.
The letters to Allen’s and Anderson’s campaigns asked for more information about an undisclosed number contributors.
It called for amended reports or evidence that the campaigns had met FEC requirements for trying to get the requested information. Both opted for the latter.
“At the beginning of the campaign,” said Reagan Williams, Anderson’s campaign manager, “we hired a top compliance consultant to manage our process and we have complied with all federal laws.
“There is no comparison of the one minor request made to us by the FEC and the four very serious, major requests made to Wright McLeod’s campaign.”
The FEC often takes 10 months to resolve complaints, so it likely won’t act on Allen’s before the July 31 primary.
Meanwhile, Dublin Attorney Maria Sheffield, the fourth GOP candidate, said a McLeod campaign staffer taped one of her recent speeches.
Sheffield called the practice “tracking,” which she said is used by Democrats. Republicans use it, too, but mostly against Democrats.
“Wright McLeod, who has a long record of supporting liberal Democrats, made the decision to revert to his Democrat ways and go negative against a ... Republicans,” she said.
Since 1998, McLeod’s voted in five Democratic primaries and donated thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates.
Sheffield also urged her GOP rivals to “stop attacking each other and start talking about policy issues.”
Croft didn’t respond to a request for comment.