Christine O'Donnell's campaign said the FEC complaint is politically motivated. O'Donnell faces federal investigation

A top Delaware Republican confirms to POLITICO that former Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is under federal investigation for allegedly misusing campaign funds.

The Associated Press first reported Wednesday that O’Donnell was the target of a federal criminal probe, quoting an anonymous source.


A spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware did not immediately return a call for comment, but a top state Republican said he was aware of the investigation, which likely centers around a complaint that was sparked by a Washington-based watchdog group and supported by top GOP officials in the state.

“I was told by the state party chairman that the complaint he filed was alive and under investigation after the election,” said the GOP source.

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging O’Donnell used campaign contributions to pay her own personal expenses. Several of O’Donnell’s former campaign workers have also charged that the tea party favorite used donations to pay personal expenses, including rent for her home, which she argued doubled as campaign headquarters.

After she upended Rep. Mike Castle in the GOP primary in September, several former aides portrayed O’Donnell as an irresponsible manager of her campaign’s money.

David Keegan, who served as O’Donnell’s campaign finance director during her 2008 bid, said he warned all vendors to not take any orders from her unless they received cash up front.

Former O’Donnell campaign manager Kristin Murray recorded a robocall from the state Republican Party on the eve of the GOP primary that said O’Donnell used donations for “rent and personal expenses, leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt.”

O’Donnell’s campaign has denied any wrongdoing and a spokesperson told ABC News he had not heard of any investigation until the AP story.

"The anonymous source seems politically motivated and may well be tied to the ultraliberal, George Soros-financed, former Sen. [Joe] Biden staffer-run CREW," said O’Donnell campaign spokesman Matt Moran.

Moran did not return an e-mail and phone call from POLITICO.