For what seems like the first time ever, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) was finally held accountable for her actions, or at least her campaign was.

According to the Daily Caller, Waters’ congressional campaign was just hit with a large fine to the tune of $68,000 "for violating several federal campaign finance laws during her 2020 reelection bid."

The bombshell news came as a result of a report issued by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The organization published the documents related to the investigation into the campaign finance violations.

Nonpartisan campaign finance research group OpenSecrets revealed that the Waters campaign has agreed to pay the fine.

What's happening?

Waters' 2020 campaign committee reportedly underreported campaign spending to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, setting off the investigation as a result.

OpeSecrets published all of the detailed accounts of Waters' campaign spending issues, and some of them were quite egregious.

The Daily Caller noted:

Waters’ 2020 campaign accepted $19,000 worth of excessive contributions throughout 2019 and 2020, and made $7,000 worth of “prohibited cash disbursements” from a petty cash fund, according to the FEC documents first reported by OpenSecrets.

The financial errors were reportedly blamed partially on the pandemic, according to documents published by the organization.

It added:

During the FEC’s investigation last year, Waters’ attorney Leilani Beaver wrote to the agency, claiming Waters’ campaign committee “acknowledges errors were made which were not willful or purposeful,” adding that “the errors were primarily a result of limited staff availability and resources during the pandemic.”

An FEC audit also took place, and Waters' campaign said that some of the excess contributions were "refunded," adding that some of the reports were "amended" to reflect accurate numbers.

Social media reacts

Users across social media had plenty to say about Waters and her campaign finance issues.

Maxine Waters’ campaign was found guilty of violating multiple election laws and ordered to pay $68,000.

If she was a Republican, she would be expelled from Congress and be under an FBI investigation looking at prison. The two-tiered justice system is a joke. pic.twitter.com/cb7AqlrZ4G

— Mike Engleman🇺🇲 (@RealHickory) June 2, 2025

"Maxine Waters not facing criminal charges is another example of natl Dem politicians being above the law, of 2 tier system of justice. I call on DOJ to apply blind justice and rule of law where we have justice for all," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Unfortunately, Congress people are allowed to break election finance laws on a regular basis. They rarely get penalized because they are almost never investigated."