FEC: John Edwards must repay $2.3M

(By Craig Jarvis, NewsObserver.com) - The Federal Elections Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to require former U.S. Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign committee to pay back about $2.3 million, mostly in federal matching funds it received after he pulled out of the race in January 2008.

Attorneys for Edwards' campaign committee say they will appeal the decision, which otherwise would take effect when the audit is completed in about 30 days.

Every presidential candidate who receives federal matching money is audited. Campaign committees can't zero-out books until there has been a final audit, which takes years. Several members of the six-person commission stressed that this was a routine case.