FEC Asks Michael Bloomberg to Clarify Campaign Spending
- Prepayments to Bloomberg LP are among items scrutinized
- Campaign might have to amend report covering fourth quarter
The Federal Election Commission faulted Michael Bloomberg’s campaign Thursday for the way it reported its spending, including $14 million in pre-payments to his company for campaign expenses.
The campaign made an unusual advanced payment in the fourth quarter of 2019 to compensate Bloomberg LP for consultants, the use of the company’s airplane, terminal rentals and other purposes.
(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
The FEC, which oversees compliance with campaign finance law, asked the campaign to clarify the purpose of expenditures the campaign described as “Prepayment of Campaign Expenses.” A campaign is required to indicate what its money is being spent on and identify each recipient of more than $200 in an election cycle.