We were surprised last week when we examined former Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Ed Case‘s campaign contributions, and found that he raised far less than he initially told reporters.

Asked about the discrepancy, Case explained that when he said he raised about $240,000 “since I announced,” he was not referring to the public announcement he made on April 10. He told us that he “should have been more clear.”

“Officially, my candidacy began somewhere around March 20,” he said last week. “You’re required to file a statement of candidacy, so I was formally a candidate in the latter part of March, and I raised money in the latter part of March.”

Case then told us that he checked the FEC website for his statement of candidacy, which he said began on March 21. But in checking out the documents to support that explanation, we found his statement of candidacy was actually postmarked in Honolulu on April 4. (Read more about that in a previous DC808 post.)

In an email sent to DC808 on Monday night, Case had this to say: 

“Here are the facts: (1) I sent a letter to supporters asking for contributions to my likely Senate campaign on March 21st. (2) By March 23rd I had received more than $5,000 in reply to my letter. (3) By March 31st (the end of that reporting quarter) I had received $72,460 in contributions to my Senate campaign (and I reported those contributions in my Senate quarter report due April 15th). (4) I signed my Statement of Candidacy March 31st and filed it April 4th.”

Check out the documents that Case has filed to the Federal Election Commission.