McCain-controlled GOP committees delay finance reports

[sabra]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/mccain-controll.html

John McCain, author of much of the federal campaign finance law that requires disclosure of donors, apparently is not insisting on timely transparency by some committees he's raising money through.

Like Democratic rival Barack Obama, McCain files monthly campaign finance reports detailing the sums he's raised for his presidential run, as the law requires. His latest report says he collected $27 million in July.

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So-called joint-fund-raising committees are permitted to file either monthly or quarterly -- and the Republicans have opted to file quarterly. The next report covering receipts from July, August and September fund-raising won’t be released publicly until Oct. 15, less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 election.

An RNC spokesman said the requirement of monthly reports had become burdensome, given the large sums raised. The Republican National Committee filed a monthly report showing it raised $25.8 million in July.

Obama and the Democratic Party have similar joint fund-raising accounts and say they plan to file disclosure reports monthly.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera took the opportunity to swipe at McCain: "His consistent pattern of carving loopholes out of the campaign finance reforms he once championed is yet another reason the John McCain who ran in 2000 wouldn't even consider voting for the John McCain who now promises more of the same failed leadership."