Mayor Bill de Blasio received his third warning letter in three months from the Federal Election Commission as the agency probes alleged fundraising violations from his failed 2020 bid.
The letters stem from a $52,581 debt his cash-strapped presidential campaign owed to his state political account, NY Fairness PAC, which he used to pay for 2020-related expenses.
The latest missive, filed Thursday, says the repayment of that loan on Sept. 11 constitutes a prohibited transfer or contribution because it’s over the $5,000 limit.
De Blasio dropped out of the Democratic race nine days later.
It’s the second letter de Blasio’s gotten from the FEC this week.
Federal regulators on Tuesday flagged the $123,000 his federal political action account — the similarly named Fairness PAC — spent on polling and other costs, also to aid his 2020 bid.
That letter noted that transfers between federal PACs and campaign accounts are only allowed within 30 days of declaring a candidacy — a deadline the oft-late mayor missed by two weeks.
De Blasio used his NY Fairness PAC — which was initially established to aid fellow progressives — to cover rent, digital advertising and travel during the first few days of his campaign in May.
The expenses billed to the PAC included $8,562 for “launch weekend travel” and $4,200 for rent at The Yard, the Brooklyn coworking space where de Blasio’s campaign was headquartered.
The most recent FEC letter warns, “Although the Commission may take further legal action, your prompt action to refund the prohibited amount will be taken into consideration.”
A response is due by Dec. 26.
But the FEC can’t take an enforcement action against the mayor because the agency has been operating without a quorum since September.
The six-person body currently has just three commissioners. It needs at least four to issue rulings.
The lead commissioner, Ellen Weintraub, has urged President Trump to nominate new members, which must then be confirmed by the Senate.
“De Blasio 2020 has fully repaid and properly reported the debt to NY Fairness PAC because NY Fairness PAC had paid some expenses on the eve of the Mayor’s candidacy that it believed at the time were exploratory, though in retrospect they should have been attributed to the candidacy rather than to exploratory activity,” said PAC spokesman Jon Paul Lupo. “We will continue to work with the FEC to resolve this issue.”
Regulators and prosecutors have dogged de Blasio for years over his fundraising practices.
In 2017 he narrowly ducked indictment for trading favors with donors to his 2013 mayoral campaign, his 2014 failed effort to win control of the state Senate and to a nonprofit run by his allies, the Campaign for One New York.
Later a city Department of Investigation report found de Blasio’s CONY fundraising broke city ethics rules.
Just last week the state’s Commission on Public Ethics announced a $10,000 settlement with Douglaston Development, a major CONY contributor.
The firm won $12 million in taxpayer funds and public land in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx in December 2014 for a new project. Two months later, de Blasio spoke to one of the firm’s executives about donating to the nonprofit.
The commission has collected at least $125,000 to settle cases with multiple CONY contributors and its investigation into the nonprofit continues.