Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,
Former California congressman Eric Swalwell was ordered by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) June 15 to return all donations received during his bid for governor before dropping out of the race.
The agency charged with enforcing federal campaign finance laws threatened Swalwell with an audit or enforcement action if he fails to give back $30,075 in contributions that 16 donors made to his campaign committee, according to a letter sent to the former candidate.
"Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act may also result in an enforcement action against the committee."
In the letter, FEC Senior Campaign Finance Analyst Mary Seiler also stated Swalwell would not be eligible to request a time extension to give the money back.
According to the letter, the FEC requires candidates to return contributions to the donors if they drop out of a race. Swalwell did return some of the donations, but not all of them, according to the agency.
General election contributions can't be used to pay off primary debts or other obligations, the FEC noted.
All refunds were required to be made by July 20. If not, the commission may take further legal action in the case, the FEC said.
Swalwell and his attorney, Sara Azari, didn't return requests for comment about the FEC's demands.
Swalwell dropped out of the governor's race in April after multiple women stepped forward with sexual assault allegations, which he has denied. He also faced a U.S. House of Representatives ethics investigation over the accusations and a call from his party to resign.
The former congressman and candidate continues to face criminal and ethical investigations over the allegations.
His official state campaign finance disclosure information shows Swalwell collected donations from individuals and organizations until the day he resigned April 13. The last-minute donors included the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council Candidate PAC, California Dairies, real estate developer Jeff Worthe, and Greater Anesthesia Service and PAC - each of which gave him $39,200.
The last contribution made to Swalwell's campaign was nearly $460,000 on April 18 in "unitemized contributions," according to the state. The report doesn't specify who gave Swalwell the large donation or where it came from.
The California Secretary of State's office didn't immediately return a request for information about the contribution.
Swalwell's campaign finance report filed with the state shows he used campaign funds in the final weeks to pay his attorney Azari at least $313,000 and the Democratic political media firm KMM Strategies more than $600,000.
Democratic state Sen. Aisha Wahab, a progressive from Hayward, California, advanced June 16 in a special general election to fill Swalwell's vacant U.S. House seat.
Swalwell resigned from Congress in April, a day after ending his campaign for governor.
Wahab will move on to the Aug. 18 runoff to determine who will fill the remainder of Swalwell's term through January.
Democrat Melissa Hernandez, a transit director and former mayor of Dublin, California, was in second place June 19 but votes were still being counted.
The district includes East Bay cities of Fremont, Hayward, and Livermore, which heavily favors Democrats.
A regular primary was held June 2 to elect a new Congress member for the district to a full term. Wahab and Hernandez were the top two vote-getters.