Highway 31, the shell independent expenditure organization used by Obama campaigners to push almost $3 million in advertising into the Alabama U.S. Senate race in less than a month, missed a 24 hour reporting deadline.

The organization had to tell the Federal Election Commission about the $57,000 direct mail hit piece it sent out against conservative Republican nominee Roy Moore on Friday through Ourso, Beychok, Johson, Inc., a Democrat attack firm based in Louisiana.

Late Sunday, Highway 31 filed an amended report with the FEC for Friday’s expenditures that included this $57,000. As Breitbart News reported, the report filed by Highway 31 with the FEC on Saturday showed only $101,000 of spending by the group on Friday.

The actual amount spent by Highway 31 in the Alabama U.S. Senate race on Friday was $158,000, bringing the total amount spent by the shell organization in support of liberal Democrat Doug Jones and in opposition to conservative Republican Roy Moore in less than a month since the organization was formed on November 6 to just shy of $3 million so far — $2,876,358.

Under FEC regulations, expenditures made by independent expenditure organizations must by reported to the FEC within 24 hours.

The Friday expenditures made with Ourso Beychock Johnson, Inc. occurred more than 48 hours before Highway 31 informed the FEC of them, so that failure to report in a timely manner constitutes the first known violation of FEC regulations by Highway 31.

“We filed an amendment as soon as we were made aware that it was needed. We are complying with all rules and regulations,” Highway 31 executive director Adam Muhlendorf told Breitbart News.

In followup emails, Muhlendorf refused to deny that Highway 31 is a shell organization, as Breitbart News has reported.

Specifically, he did not respond to this communication from Breitbart News:

If you had no cash on hand on November 22 and had incurred $1.1 million in debt with vendors . . . it’s fair to characterize Highway 31 as a shell organization. If you had no cash on hand on December 1 and had incurred $2.8 million in debt with vendors . . . it’s still fair to characterize Highway 31 as a shell organization. So, until you provide evidence to the contrary . . . it’s fair to characterize Highway 31 as a shell organization.

With the special election for the December 12 U.S. Senate seat in Alabama only eight days away, Moore holds a narrow 2.6 point lead, according to the latest Real Clear Politics Average of Polls.

The outcome of the race, however, hangs in the balance and may be determined by the scale and effectiveness of the huge onslaught of financial resources deployed by Washington, D.C.-based liberals in the state – part of the frenzied effort to flip a traditionally Republican Senate seat.