SAN DIEGO _ The Federal Election Commission this week questioned the campaign for Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., about a financial report that showed it received contributions over the per-election limit from more than a dozen donors.
In a letter dated Jan. 13, an FEC analyst asked the treasurer for Mike Levin for Congress for information about contributions in the campaign's financial report covering the three months ending Sept. 30, 2019. The letter identifies contributions from 13 individuals that appeared to exceed the $2,800 limit for the 2020 primary election.
"If any apparently excessive contribution in question was incompletely or incorrectly disclosed, you must amend your original report with the clarifying information," the letter said. "If any contribution you received exceeds the limits, you may have to refund the excessive amount."
The campaign has until Feb. 18 to respond.
Adam Berkowitz, a spokesman for Levin's campaign, told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the campaign did not knowingly accept excessive contributions.
"Our previous accounting firm did not inform us of the overages, and when we switched accounting firms in August 2019, the new firm did a full audit and they informed us that there was a combined total of $12,068 in excessive contributions," Berkowitz said.
For a candidate committee such as Mike Levin for Congress, federal law allows an individual donor to contribute up to $2,800 for a primary election and another $2,800 for the general election in the 2020 cycle, according to the FEC. If a campaign receives more than $2,800 from an individual for one election, it can designate the excess money to a different election, reattribute that money to another person, such as a spouse, or return it to the donor.
To redesignate or reattribute a contribution, the campaign must take action by certain deadlines and according to various rules, which the FEC specified in its letter.
Berkowitz said the campaign promptly contacted the FEC after receiving the letter this week, and it has completed all the refunds and redesignations required. He said the changes will be reflected in the campaign's year-end financial disclosure report, which is due to the FEC at the end of the month.
Levin's campaign has changed its accounting and compliance infrastructure and software to improve internal controls, which it expects will help prevent future reporting problems, Berkowitz said.
"We've put FEC best practices in place and the new software ... makes us aware of possible duplicates and possible excessive contributions in real time," Berkowitz said.
