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Anthony Weiner Hit With $65K in Fines for Misusing Past Campaign Funds

Anthony Weiner
Anthony Weiner / AP
December 1, 2016

Anthony Weiner was slapped with $64,956 in fines by New York City's Campaign Finance Board on Thursday for using campaign money from his 2013 mayoral bid to pay for personal bills, among other violations, the New York Daily News reported.

The city's Campaign Finance Board, or CFB, voted unanimously to penalize the disgraced former congressman, finding that he committed ten different violations of campaign finance law.

Weiner's campaign spent over $1,500 on bills for two phones, one of which was a personal line, and dry cleaning, the Daily News noted.

Weiner's campaign spent $1,539 on bills for two phones and dry cleaning that CFB found were really Weiner's personal expenses.

The campaign said one of the phones was Weiner's personal line, which he used for fundraising, and the other was a phone bought during his earlier mayoral bid in 2005. The board whacked him with a $2,308 fine for that, since using campaign donations for regular living expenses is not allowed.

An additional fine cost Weiner over $22,000 for failing to show that certain expenses were meant for the betterment of his campaign.

CFB hit him with another $22,031 fine for failing to demonstrate expenses were in furtherance of his campaign, including $26,000 paid to the Esler Group, $56,210 to individuals whose duties were not properly documented, and $600 used to buy TVs.

Weiner also allegedly accepted 25 donations that did not comply with campaign finance law.

Weiner was also accused of accepting 21 campaign contributions over the legal limit of $4,950, accepting two contributions over the lower limit for people who have business with the city, and taking two illicit gifts from corporations.

And the campaign spent $115,268 after the election was over, including $46,169 to a consultant, spending that was judged insurmountable because proper contracts were not provided.

His campaign also needs to reimburse $195,377.79 in "taxpayer matching funds that it did not use."