A $35,000 fine was levied against a fundraising committee for Senator Hillary Clinton's 2000 election campaign by the Federal Election Commission. The fine was a direct result of Andrew Grossman, who, acting in the capacity of the committee's treasurer, had underreported more than $700,000 in donations raised from a Hollywood celebrity concert fundraiser. The event was held on August 13, 2000 and featured celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Cher and Muhammad Ali.

The major financial backer of the fundraiser, Peter Paul, had three felony and fraud convictions from the 1970s and 1980s. Shortly after the celebrity fundraiser, the FBI launched an investigation into Paul's claims that he paid nearly $2 million in expenses for the event, which was far more than originally reported by Clinton's fundraising committee, the New York Sun reported.

Senator Clinton has tried to distance herself from the fundraising scandal, stating she was not involved with the inaccurate reporting. Marc Elias, a lawyer for Hillary Clinton, said the agreement with the Federal Election Commission "makes clear that there was no violation of federal election law by the Hillary Rodham Clinton for Senate Committee in connection with the August 13, 2000 event." Yet in the text of the conciliation agreement, it states the Federal Election Commission conducted an investigation and found "probable cause to believe New York Senate 2000 and Andrew Grossman, in his official capacity as treasurer," violated campaign election law.

Paul himself disputes Clinton's claims that she was not involved in the inaccurate reporting. Paul said, "For Hillary to say she had nothing to do with this, again, is disingenuous." He further added, "This is the biggest contribution to her campaign." Paul claimed letters and legal papers he sent to Clinton's attorney included canceled checks showing Paul's expenses for the fundraising concert, yet the campaign continued to reaffirm the reports that omitted those expenses. Paul claimed, "Not only did they ignore them, they hid them."

RedState.org has their take on the story and links to the actual text of the conciliatory agreement.