CREW Seeks Criminal Probe into O'Donnell's Spending

The polling out of the Delaware Senate race already looks bad enough for the Republicans, who turned one of their strongest pick up opportunities into one of their weakest. But now comes word that a leading ethics watchdog is calling for a criminal probe of the GOP Senate nominee in Delaware.

A watchdog group says it plans to ask authorities in Delaware to investigate Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's finances.

At issue are more than $20,000 of spending in 2009 and 2010 that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims was illegal.

"It turns out Miss O'Donnell has treated her campaign funds like they are her very own personal piggy bank. She's used that money to pay for things like her rent, for gas, meals and even a bowling outing. And that's just flat-out illegal," said Melanie Sloan, the group's executive director.

In an interview on CNN's "AC360," Sloan said her organization would be sending letters to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware and the Federal Elections Commission on Monday asking them to investigate.

These aren't the first questions leveled against Christine O'Donnell's handling of her campaign finances; late last week, The Daily Beast reported that O'Donnell had placed her mother on her campaign's payroll, and it was reported in the spring that O'Donnell was spending campaign cash on rent for her home. Nevertheless it's never a good sign for a campaign to face the prospect of a criminal investigation -- particularly not one struggling to prove that it is credible.