U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Anaheim) has been accused by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington of illegally spending campaign funds on clothing during her most recent re-election campaign.

CREW filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission claiming that Sanchez's campaign committee spent $334.09 on clothing for the six-term congresswoman, violating the Federal Election Campaign Act, which prohibits a candidate for federal office from using campaign funds for personal use, including clothing purchases.

Paula Negrete, Sanchez's communications director, denied any wrongdoing.

"The Congresswoman did not use any campaign funds on personal clothing expenses," Negrete said. "The purchase in question was for cultural attire that she wears at various Vietnamese events in her district."

Furthermore, Negrete said, FEC law only bans such purchases "if the expense would exist even in the absence of the candidacy or even if the officeholder were not in office."

"The Vietnamese dress is required to attend these events," Negrete said, and the purchase would never have been made "but for her campaign or responsibilities as a federal officeholder."

The CREW complaint also included four other congressional candidates, all of whom had their campaign committees spend at least twice as much as Sanchez's on their clothing.

CREW made news in September when the organization filed a complaint against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the Republican National Committee for spending $150,000 on clothing for Palin and her family during the presidential campaign.

"Sarah Palin wasn’t the only candidate to violate the law by using campaign money for clothing, several others did as well," Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said Tuesday. "There is no excuse for this conduct; the FEC should investigate these members and candidates immediately."