The Federal Election Commission cleared former Republican congressional candidate Mike Gabbard of a complaint that his campaign violated campaign finance laws in 2004.

Gabbard, who lost to Democrat Ed Case in the race for Hawai'i's 2nd Congressional District, had been the subject of a complaint that his campaign accepted money given under a falsified name and submitted false reports.

A March 27 report by an FEC investigator concluded that the complaint that Friends of Gabbard accepted money in the name of another person was "meritless."

The report also said the complaint that Friends of Gabbard violated FEC reporting requirements was "essentially baseless."

The commission sent Gabbard attorney Randal Yoshida a letter May 3 informing him that "there is no reason to believe that your clients violated the (Federal Election Campaign) Act. Accordingly, the Commission closed its file in this matter."

"I'm happy to hear that the FEC has proven what I said all along - that this complaint was nothing more than a politically motivated fabrication intended to damage my congressional candidacy," Gabbard said in a written statement yesterday.

Gabbard, a former Honolulu City Councilman, is running as a Republican for state Senate District 19, which covers Kapolei, Makakilo and Waikele. Incumbent Sen. Brian Kanno, a Democrat, announced May 4 that he will not run for re-election.