A person with knowledge of a federal campaign-finance investigation says a criminal probe has been opened into whether Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the identity of a client who has been questioned in the probe. The case, which has been assigned to two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents in Delaware, has not been brought before a grand jury.
O'Donnell, who set a state record by raising more than $7.3 million in an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign this year, has been dogged by questions about her finances.
"Let us be clear. There was no impermissible use of campaign funds. Period," O'Donnell's campaign manager Matt Moran said in a statement that also blamed establishment politicians for the alleged probe.
