Weiner fined $65,000 for campaign violations

The penalties stem from when the disgraced former congressman race for mayor in 2013.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board has fined former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner nearly $65,000 for violating election spending rules during his failed 2013 bid for mayor.

Some of the penalties, approved by the board Thursday, were for using campaign funds to pay for regular living expenses, including dry cleaning and personal cellphone service. Other fines covered expenses that the board said were never properly justified as being related to the election, including payments to a consultant after the race had ended.

Weiner’s campaign derailed amid a sexting scandal. He resigned from Congress two years earlier for similar behavior.

He didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, an aide to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, left him after he was again caught sending racy messages last summer.

Federal authorities are continuing to investigate Weiner’s sexting habits. The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office launched the investigation in September after a 15-year-old girl told DailyMail.com he had sent her sexually explicit text and video messages.

Weiner acknowledged communicating with the teen, but suggested her claims of X-rated exchanges were a hoax. Since then, his lawyers have declined to discuss the case or comment on reports that he had checked into a sex addiction rehab program.

The Campaign Finance Board also ordered Weiner’s campaign to return $195,000 left in his campaign account. That is considered public money because he had participated in a public financing program during his run for mayor.