McKinney fined $6,000 for campaign fund violations

By Bob Keefe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON -- Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Decatur has agreed to pay $6,000 to the Federal Election Commission for violations during her failed 2006 reelection campaign, according to documents released Monday.

FEC records show that McKinney and her campaign treasurer, Joan Christian, agreed to settle the case involving $21,300 in contributions from individuals and political action committees. The contributions from unnamed donors exceeded federal campaign contribution limits of $2,100 per person, according to the FEC.

According to a conciliation agreement released Monday that was signed by an attorney for McKinney's campaign and by FEC officials, McKinney's campaign also did not properly disclose receipts, reimbursements and cash it had on hand and made numerous other errors in campaign finance reports.

The FEC would have sought "a substantially higher" civil penalty in the case, according to the settlement, but didn't because McKinney's campaign funds were depleted. McKinney agreed to personally pay the $6,000 fine, according to records.

McKinney lost her 4th Congressional District seat to Democratic challenger Hank Johnson of Lithonia in the August 2006 primary runoff.