A question about these fundraising reports and the debates [View all]

[dsc]

Our first debate is at the end of June but before Q2 is over. We are using donation based metrics to determine eligibility for the stage. I know candidates have in the past released things before the quarterly reports. My question is this, when they release something early is it a report that has been filed or is it their data. If it is the latter, then what is to prevent a campaign from lying about donations to make the stage (especially if they are really close and only have to lie about a donation or two). I know they would get caught in the end, but the may think the risk is worth it and claim it was a mistake.