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May 1, 2007

Matt Brown investigation clears Democrats in 3 states

HONOLULU -- The Federal Election Commission says that the Democratic Party in three states did not break federal campaign contribution laws when they gave money to Rhode Island U.S. Senate candidate Matt Brown last year.

The Democratic Party in Hawaii, Maine and Massachusetts funneled a total of $25,000 to Brown, who was then Rhode Island’s Secretary of State, in December 2005. He was seeking the Democratic Senate nomination.

Three of Brown's top donors contributed a total of $28,000 back to the out-of-state parties that had made the donations to Brown's campaign. In each case, the donor had already given Brown the maximum allowed under federal law.

The Hawaii Republican Party complained that Brown's campaign broke campaign finance laws.

Brown later dropped out of the race because he lacked enough money to continue his campaign. Sheldon Whitehouse went on to win the Democratic primary, and then he defeated incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee in the general election.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Kate Bramson  at 8:48 AM | Permalink

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