By Francisco Alvarado, BrowardBulldog.org
After running a campaign promising to restore public trust and integrity to the seat he won on Election Day this month, Congressman-Elect Carlos Curbelo is already drawing scrutiny from federal regulators.
On November 14, an auditor with the Federal Elections Commission notified Curbelo campaign treasurer Ed Torgas that an amended quarterly campaign finance report filed in late October is riddled with inaccurate or incomplete information about the donors who gave to the Miami Republican’s run for Congress.
In the 11-page letter, FEC campaign finance analyst Ryan Furman cited the Curbelo campaign’s failure to disclose $52,875 in contributions from political action committees in its initial report filed on October 15. That document said Curbelo only got $40,500 in PAC money.
“Please provide clarifying information as to why this activity was not disclosed in your original report,” Furman wrote.
Torgas could not be reached. Curbelo and a spokeswoman for his campaign did not return phone messages seeking comment. BrowardBulldog.org reported November 1 that Curbelo’s campaign was forced to amend its quarterly report on October 29 because donations from 21 PACs were omitted in its original filing.
The campaign also listed tens of thousands of additional dollars of PAC contributions in the wrong place on the quarterly report – under individual donor contributions – meaning that anyone going to look up the campaign’s PAC contributions would find an incomplete list.
After the Curbelo campaign relabeled the misidentified PAC contributions and added the missing ones, the amended report showed he actually received $93,500 from political committees, including private interests like the National Federation of Independent Business ($2,500), conservative former Congressman Allen West ($5,000) and House Republican leaders like House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. ($2,000).
Campaign staffers told BrowardBulldog.org that the omissions and misidentified contributions were the result of a glitch with a new software program they were using.
Curbelo beat the incumbent, Democrat Joe Garcia, by capturing 52 percent of the vote to Garcia’s 48 percent. In television and radio spots, as well as on the stump, Curbelo told voters that if elected he would avoid election scandals that dogged Garcia and David Rivera, the Miami Republican who held the seat from 2010 to 2012.
Over the summer, federal prosecutors in Miami identified Rivera as an unindicted co-conspirator who helped finance a ringer candidate against Garcia in the 2012 Democratic primary. Garcia’s ex-campaign manager is under federal investigation for allegedly doing the same against Rivera in the 2010 Republican primary.
Wadi Gaitan, Curbelo’s spokesman until last week, previously told BrowardBulldog.org the campaign always addressed any inaccurate finance reports as soon as staffers discovered them.
“Our campaign takes satisfaction in the fact that we have always adhered to the law – from following election regulations to meeting FEC deadlines,” Gaitan said.
Since organizing in July 2013, Curbelo’s campaign has been beset with problems reporting its finances. Prior to the November 14 notice, the FEC sent the campaign more than a half-dozen so-called “RFAI letters,” or Requests for Additional Information, demanding explanations for missing or unclear information that candidates are required by law to make public.
In its November 18 letter, the FEC identified seven problems with the campaign’s October 29 amended report, in addition to the PAC contributions that had not been listed or were placed in the wrong category.
For instance, Curbelo’s campaign accepted six contributions from individuals and one contribution from a PAC that exceeded the maximum limit allowed by federal law. The contribution cap for individuals is $2,600; $2,000 for PACs.
A committee for Publix Supermarkets gave $6,000. Curbelo’s mother Teresita and Big Sugar scion Jose “Pepe” Fanjul Jr. were among the donors who the FEC said gave more than the maximum. She gave $5,200 and Fanjul gave $5,000.
The FEC also admonished the Curbelo campaign for a number of other violations, including a failure to list the employers for more than three-dozen individual donors, and the full names of several PACs.
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