RALEIGH, N.C. – Federal election officials say John Edwards owes taxpayers more than $2.1 million in public matching funds improperly received after he dropped his 2008 run for the White House, yet disclosure reports show his failed campaign is still spending freely.
Edwards’ hopes for the Democratic presidential nomination ended in January 2008. Months later he admitted to an extramarital affair that left him facing criminal charges. But reports filed last week show his 2008 primary campaign spent $836,712 in 2011 on airfare, hotel rooms, cell phones and other expenses.
The campaign reported $2.1 million in cash remaining as of Dec. 31, a figure close to what the Federal Election Commission says the former North Carolina senator still owes the U.S. Treasury.
Attempts by The Associated Press to find anyone who could comment for the campaign were unsuccessful.
Politicians are barred by law from using campaign funds for personal expenses.
The required year-end report filed by Edwards on Jan. 31 provides little insight into what political purpose some of the campaign’s recent expenses might serve.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of the campaign-finance watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said it’s not unusual for presidential campaigns to remain open years after the election is over, especially if there is an unresolved audit or unpaid debts.
“All they are allowed to do are activities to wind down the campaign,” Sloan said. “If these are legitimate expenses, then the Edwards campaign should be willing to explain them.”
The bipartisan Federal Election Commission voted 6-0 on July 21 to order the Edwards campaign to return the money. Records show the campaign repaid $142,000 in uncashed checks on Sept. 1 but has thus far failed to return the remaining taxpayer money.
Edwards received more than $12.9 million in federal matching funds, the money generated from the $3 box that taxpayers can check on their tax returns. Most of the public money came after he dropped out of the race Jan. 30, 2008.
For weeks the married candidate had been dogged by tabloid reports of an affair with campaign staffer Rielle Hunter.
After withdrawing from the race and months of public denials, Edwards eventually admitted he had fathered Hunter’s baby.
