A conservative watchdog group in Washington filed an ethics complaint with federal regulators alleging that Mayor Bill de Blasio violated the law by leaning on his state political account to pick up the tab for the early days of his presidential campaign.

“This complaint is based upon information and belief, supported by media reports and public filings, that de Blasio and de Blasio 2020 has accepted excessive contributions from de Blasio’s state PAC and used funds not subject to federal law for his presidential campaign,” the group Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust wrote in its complaint to the Federal Elections Commission.

The group pointed to reporting from The Post and other news organizations on de Blasio’s campaign finance maneuvers as evidence for the complaint, which was submitted Thursday.

“We’re confident we followed the rules,” said de Blasio campaign spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie.

Struggling for cash, Hizzoner made the unorthodox move of leaning on his state political action committee to pay for plane tickets, advertising and rent during the early days of his presidential campaign — totaling nearly $53,000, The Post revealed.

News nonprofit The City also exposed de Blaiso billed $68,000 in polling for his campaign to the state PAC, NY Fairness, forcing his presidential campaign to amend its filings with the Federal Elections Commission.

All told, NY Fairness spent $335,780 over the first six months of the year.

Typically, the purchases made by NY Fairness for de Blasio’s campaign would be treated as contributions, which are strictly capped by the FEC at just $2,800 per primary.

But, de Blasio’s campaign tallied them as a debt it owes to the state PAC he controls to get around the limit.

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The maneuver raised the hackles of government watchdog groups across the political spectrum in New York and in D.C., who said the bookkeeping play amounted to an end-run around contributions caps.

“It appears de Blasio’s state PAC spending is in excess of federal limits,” said Tyler Cole, a top lawyer at campaign finance reform group Issue One told The Post in July. “Federal candidates must run their campaigns out of federally regulated committees — the law is only meaningful if they abide by the federal limits.”

He added: “You can’t allow candidates to use state committees to do an end-run around the law.”

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Campaign finance experts also raised eyebrows at de Blasio’s use of the state PAC — as revealed by Politico New York — to pick up the tab as he traveled to New Hampshire and tested the waters before launching his quixotic bid.

It’s just the latest in a string of campaign finance scandals to hit de Blasio.

He narrowly avoided indictment in 2017 on bribery allegations stemming from his fundraising for a non-profit controlled by his allies, the Campaign for One New York. A Department of Investigation probe later determined his CONY solicitations violated city ethics rules.

“The Mayor clearly took the wrong lesson from the earlier investigations into his campaign finance activities,” said Susan Lerner, the executive director of good government group Common Cause – New York. “It was not an invitation to continue to skirt the spirit and intent of New York City campaign finance laws by expanding into violating federal laws.”

Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan