McCain Returns $50,000 in Contributions

After a report by The Post's Matthew Mosk raised questions about one of Sen. John McCain's campaign fundraisers, the GOP presidential candidate decided to return about $50,000 brought in by a Florida oil executive. The McCain campaign acknowledged that some of the funds were collected by a foreign national and came from donors who may not support the candidate.

The Post reported Wednesday that Harry Sargeant III submitted a bundle of checks for $2,300 and $4,600 on a single day in March, all of them from donors in Southern California who had never given before this year's campaign and did not appear to be likely candidates to contribute as much as $18,400 per household.

Although the contributions were credited to Sargeant, whose company has Defense Department contracts worth as much as $1.4 billion, the checks came from Americans of seemingly modest means. Donors included the manager of Riverside-area Taco Bell restaurants, a couple who at one time ran a liquor store in Colton and a Whittier auto mechanic.

The McCain campaign also sent a letter to Sargeant donors reminding them of the federal rules for contributors.