By Mark Matthews, Orlando Sentinel, May 11, 2007

11 May 2007 // WASHINGTON -- An advocacy group today asked for an investigation into the past fundraising of U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, alleging the Republican’s 2004 campaign violated multiple contribution and disclosure rules.

The complaint filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also seeks "enforcement action" and civil penalties against Martinez, who also serves as chairman for the Republican National Committee.

The Martinez campaign repeatedly has said these problems were the mistake of poor bookkeeping and a spokesman previously noted that Martinez has taken steps to correct the mistakes and ensure they are not repeated in future filings.

Among the violations cited by CREW were donations to Martinez that exceeded allowable limits and a failure to report enough information about donors contributing to his $12 million run for Senate, according to the complaint.

The filing cites problems found in an audit released last month by the Federal Election Commission. In that report, the FEC noted it could "initiate an enforcement action, at a later time, to any of the matters discussed in this report."

The Martinez campaign received about $300,000 in excessive contributions and did not properly report the identity of donors about 46 percent of the time, according to the audit and a test sample conducted as part of the report.

CREW -- which has been accused by Republicans as being an arm of liberal or Democratic causes -- allege these violations gave Martinez an "unfair advantage" in the closing days of his narrow victory over Democrat Betty Castor.

The Washington-based group wants the FEC to assess a civil penalty of $800,000 against Martinez because the organization estimated his "multiple violations" involved contributions totaling that six-digit figure.

A campaign spokesman for Martinez would not comment Friday. An attorney for the senator could not be reached by 1 p.m. Friday.