The committee decided by a majority of 8-5 that the New Zealand First leader provided misleading information about a NZ$100,000 ($68,000) donation from businessman Owen Glenn.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said before the report was released on Monday night that it would not lead her to take any action against Peters.
Clark said the process had been politicized, and some MPs made up their minds before hearing any evidence.
Peters has stood down from his foreign minister portfolio while the Serious Fraud Office investigates other donations to NZ First, but he is still a minister. He has vigorously denied knowing anything about the donation from Glenn, made in Dec. 2005, and has said he was only told about it in July this year.
But the committee’s majority opinion was that he had some knowledge of it, and should have made an honest attempt to file a declaration. Because he did not make this attempt, the committee reported that he was in contempt of Parliament’s rules.
