In April of 2007, CREW filed an FEC complaint against Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) " alleging multiple egregious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and FEC regulations..  The complaint and the accompanying materials can be found here."

Last month, the FEC fined the Martinez campaign $99,000 based on the allegations in CREW's complaint (without mentioning CREW's complaint.)

Today, we are learning that Senator Martinez, who was elected for the first time in 2004, will announce that he is not running for re-election.  In fact, Martinez may retire before the end of his term.

In May of 2007, CREW filed an FEC complaint against Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) alleging multiple egregious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and FEC regulations:

The complaint is based primarily upon the Commission’s recent audit on April 17, 2007 of Martinez for Senate, which revealed that the campaign committee failed to comply with the most basic disclosure provisions of FECA and FEC regulations. During the course of the ten-month campaign, Martinez for Senate received no fewer than three written warnings from the Commission.

Today, we learned that the FEC fined Martinez $99,000 for the same violations mentioned in CREW's complaint -- without referencing or mentioning CREW's FEC complaint. We wrote a letter to the FEC, which can be found here. 

More on the FEC action against Martinez from the Orlando Sentinel:

Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida has agreed to pay $99,000 in fines for breaking several federal election laws -- including accepting $313,000 in excessive contributions -- during his 2004 campaign, according to newly-released records.

The penalty ends years of investigation of the Republican senator by the Federal Election Commission, which announced several violations last year after an audit of his campaign. His other violations include not filing information about big donors about two-dozen times and improperly reporting proceeds from joint fundraisers he held with other political committees -- to a tune of almost $320,000.

He’ll also have to pay $11,500 to the U.S. Treasury for “unresolved excessive contributions,” which Martinez was not able to return in what the FEC calls “a reasonable amount of time.”

CREW filed an Federal Elections Commission (FEC) complaint today against Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) alleging multiple egregious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and FEC regulations..  The complaint and the accompanying materials can be found here.  

The complaint is based primarily upon the Commission’s recent audit on April 17, 2007 of Martinez for Senate, which revealed that the campaign committee failed to comply with the most basic disclosure provisions of FECA and FEC regulations. During the course of the ten-month campaign, Martinez for Senate received no fewer than three written warnings from the Commission.

The FEC’s Audit Division found that Martinez for Senate violated several statues by failing to disclose occupation and/or employer information for an astonishing forty-six percent (46%) of the individuals who contributed to the campaign, and by failing to provide any contributor identification information at all for approximately $320,000 in contributions.

The Audit Division also found that Martinez for Senate accepted $313,325 in excessive contributions. Virtually all of those illegal funds were spent by Martinez for Senate in order to win the 2004 general election when, in fact, they should not have been available for use. Additionally, in the twenty days before the 2004 general election, Martinez for Senate received, but failed to disclose, $140,514 in contributions.

After filing the complaint, CREW's Melanie Sloan said:

The violations committed by Martinez for Senate are unprecedented in both size and scope.  Basically, Mel Martinez broke the law in order to win an election. Now, years later, he is a sitting Senator and the chairman of the Republican National Committee. A failure by the FEC to severely sanction the Martinez for Senate campaign committee will demonstrate that violating the law pays.

Mel Martinez, who will oversee GOP fundraising efforts at the RNC, has his own troubles with the Federal Election Commission (FEC):

The Federal Election Commission is auditing Sen. Mel Martinez's 2004 campaign, which has been trying to untangle its finances ever since his victory over Democrat Betty Castor.

Neither the FEC nor Martinez would discuss the scope of the audit, but letters from the agency to his campaign focus mostly on the amount of debt Martinez reported during and after his Senate campaign.

A formal audit has been going on for more than a year - although inquiries from the FEC began in 2004.

Also, CREW filed an FEC complaint against Martinez relating to a fundraiser for him hosted by Bacardi:

The complaint alleges that Bacardi violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and FEC regulations by using corporate funds to pay for the food and liquor served at the May 11, 2004 event. The complaint also alleges that Bacardi used a corporate list of vendors to solicit contributions to the Martinez for Senate fundraising event. The complaint alleges that employees of at least three Bacardi vendors - Hunton & Williams, Chesapeake Enterprises and The MWW Group - made contributions to the Martinez for Senate campaign in response to Bacardi's solicitations. Bacardi has already admitted to illegally using corporate funds to pay for the refreshments at the fundraising event in a filing with the FEC.

The complaint also alleges that Martinez and Bacardi tried to obfuscate the corporation's role in the event. The Martinez campaign failed to identify the occupation and employer of contributors as required -- including the top executives of Bacardi.