President's Obama 2008 campaign fined $375,000

WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) -- President Obama's 2008 presidential campaign has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission, one of the largest fines levied against a presidential campaign.

The fines are related to missing reports for nearly 1,300 last-minute donations, totaling nearly $1.9 million. In the 20-day period before an election, candidates are required to file notices within 48 hours of receiving contributions of $1,000 or more.

Federal Election Commission officials would not comment, but the fine was detailed in a letter to the Republican National Committee's chief counsel Sean Cairncross. The RNC had lodged a complaint against the campaign.

"The 2008 campaign was a record breaking campaign with over 3 million grassroots donors," Obama campaign spokeswoman Katie Hogan said in an email. "The very few outstanding questions have now all been resolved."

The fines, first reported by Politico, tops the $208,000 in civil penalties The Rev. Al Sharpton agreed to pay to the FEC for failing to accurately reports receipts and spending during his 2004 presidential bid. Republican Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign was fined $100,000.