The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has recently ordered former California Congressman Eric Swalwell to return all donations he received during his gubernatorial campaign, as he retained some of the donations after withdrawing from the gubernatorial race.
The FEC, which is responsible for enforcing federal campaign finance regulations, sent a letter to Swalwell on Monday warning the former candidate that if he does not return the $30,075 donated by 16 donors to his campaign committee, he may face audits or enforcement actions.
According to the letter, the FEC stipulates that candidates must return campaign donations to donors if they withdraw from the election. The agency stated that while Swalwell has returned some donations, he has not returned all of them. Failure to comply with the regulations could result in enforcement actions against his campaign committee.
The FEC emphasized that funds raised during the election must not be used to repay primary election debts or other financial obligations. All refunds must be completed by July 20th. Failure to do so may lead to further legal action by the FEC.
Mary Seiler, a senior campaign finance analyst at the FEC, stated in the letter that Swalwell has no authority to request an extension for returning the donations.
Both Swalwell and his attorney Sara Azari have not responded to media requests for comments.
Swalwell withdrew from the gubernatorial race in April amidst multiple sexual assault allegations made against him by several women, which he denied. However, he faced a congressional ethics investigation in the United States House of Representatives due to the allegations. Under pressure, Swalwell quickly exited the California gubernatorial race and resigned from his congressional position.
The former congressman and gubernatorial candidate is currently facing criminal and ethical investigations related to the allegations.
Official campaign finance documents submitted to the state government show that Swalwell continued to accept personal and organizational donations until the day he resigned on April 13th.
His last group of donors included the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council Candidate PAC, California Dairies, real estate developer Jeff Worthe, and the Greater Anesthesia Service and PAC, each donating $39,200.
State government data reveals that Swalwell’s campaign received a final donation of nearly $460,000 in “unitemized donations” on April 18th, with no disclosure of the donor’s identity or the source of the funds.
The California Secretary of State’s office has not responded immediately to media inquiries regarding this donation.
Swalwell’s campaign finance report submitted to the state government shows that in the weeks leading up to his withdrawal, he used campaign funds to pay Sara Azari at least $313,000 and over $600,000 to the Democratic political media consulting firm KMM Strategies.
Swalwell resigned from his congressional position the day after ending his gubernatorial campaign in April.
Democratic State Senator Aisha Wahab from Hayward advanced in the special election to fill Swalwell’s congressional seat on June 16. The runoff election on August 18 will determine who will fill the remaining term of Swalwell until January next year.
As of the 19th, Democratic candidate Melissa Hernandez, former Mayor and current Dublin City Councilmember, is in second place, but votes are still being tallied.
Swalwell represented the 14th Congressional District covering cities such as Fremont, Hayward, and Livermore in the East Bay area, which has long been a Democratic stronghold.
The district held its regular primary on June 2 to elect the next federal representative for the congressional seat. Wahab and Hernandez garnered the most votes, advancing to the runoff election.