Jill Stein is finally paying her numerous federal fines

Introduction

Jill Stein has finally paid her fines.

Mostly.

Stein’s 2016 Green Party presidential campaign committee cut the Federal Election Commission a $41,735.31 check in late December — an effort to resolve the committee’s mounting legal troubles.

The payment came days after the Center for Public Integrity reported that Stein’s campaign owed the federal government about $53,000 related to nine separate unpaid fines for violating federal campaign finance rules.

Stein, who captured 1.1 percent of the presidential vote in 2016 — about 1.42 million votes nationally — used public matching funds to help bankroll her campaign and has long been an advocate of strict campaign finance laws.

FEC records indicate Stein’s campaign still owes nearly $15,400 in fines and related fees — something a Stein staffer says was caused by an accounting mix-up that will soon be fixed.

Stein’s campaign “previously issued payment for all outstanding obligations to the Federal Election Commission in December 2018,” Stein campaign Director of Compliance Matt Kozlowski wrote in an email. “At the same time, the FEC issued a repayment for overpayments towards previous obligations, which created a new balance owed while these payments crossed in the mail. The Jill Stein for President Campaign is working with the FEC to resolve this matter.”

FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat, and FEC Commissioner Caroline Hunter, a Republican, said in separate interviews that they’re glad that Stein’s campaign is paying the fines.

The FEC has been bedeviled in recent years by dozens of political committees that have refused to pay fines the agency has levied for election law violations.