My first post above addresses both of those issues.
As I read his statement, it is for a civil violation of FEC law - in which case you are fined and educated. It is not for a criminal complaint - which they can bring against you.
Ok, perhaps that was harsh. I do have a legal education, so some things make sense to me that might not be sensible to others. I started researching this because it struck me, too, as unusual, and what I found is this:
With this law, which establishes the FEC’s authority to enforce election laws, it appears to me that ignorance is a valid defense against being punished as a regulatory matter by the FEC. That said, the “knowingly and willfully” language in no way offers a defense against prosecution of the underlying law as a criminal matter in federal court. This answer satisfies me because I can see the media reporting that “knowingly and willfully” was a required element of proceedings without going into the difference between regulatory vs criminal adjudication, although I haven’t looked into what was said about (or really what happened with) the Edwards case.