RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal auditors said a campaign committee for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., should return $81,320 in unlawful corporate contributions from her 2002 campaign, but the committee insists a convicted felon who cooked the books should be held responsible.
Earl Allen Haywood pleaded guilty last year to mail fraud after prosecutors said he stole more than $174,000 from two Dole campaign committee accounts. Haywood's plea deal requires him to make restitution.
A federal audit of the Dole North Carolina Victory Committee, a joint fund-raising effort between Dole and the North Carolina Republican Party that Haywood helped manage, determined that it had deposited 31 checks received from the general funds of corporations. Such donations are unlawful.
The review by Federal Election Commission auditors released Tuesday said the Victory Committee "bears the responsibility for the return of the prohibited contributions." The committee also could bear the consequences of violating the law.
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