Governor Matt Blunt’s campaign fundraising committee has agreed to pay the State Ethics Commission a $15,000 fine for violations of campaign finance laws over the last four years.

The campaign has issued a statement in which is insists there had been no wrong-doing, and that the fine was paid to settle the dispute. Campaign spokesman John Hancock says what is at play are differences over accounting practices and interpretation of finance statutes, which he calls "notoriously vague and ambiguous." He maintains the investigation was unfair from the start.