Democratic officials plan to file FEC complaint against McCain campaign on Monday

[BigBearJohn]

Democratic officials tell Politico that they plan to file a Federal Election Commission complaint on Monday accusing the McCain campaign of being “a serial violator” of campaign finance laws.

In one case, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations was solicited for a donation. But the McCain campaign says that’s because his name was on a list rented from Foreign Affairs magazine.

The Democratic National Committee complaint is interesting because Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has made campaign finance reform one of his signature issues on Capitol Hill.

DNC General Counsel Joe Sandler said: "The McCain campaign's lack of disclosure and disregard for the law he helped write raises serious questions about John McCain's commitment to the openness and transparency the voters expect from their leaders."

The four-page Democratic complaint charges: “The McCain campaign, already a serial violator of the federal campaign finance laws, including the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 popularly known as the McCain-Feingold law, evidently chosen to ignore some of the most fundamental and basic requirements of that law. … he Commission should find reason to believe that the McCain Campaign has violated the and the Commission’s rules, and should conduct a prompt investigation.”

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14928.html

[tblue]

1. Oh Snap!

[FrenchieCat]

2. yeah...keep them busy.

[spag68]

3. McCain campaign

That may be the least of their violations, and further they violate everyone's sense of humanity with the sleazy things they do. It's almost like they know they are going to lose and are just shooting all the bullshit that they can think of. The other possibility is scarier, that they think that the fix is in and so the're not worried about what we think. After 8 years of busk it's not so far fetched as you might think.

[Swamp Rat]

4. k&r

[90-percent]

10. FYI

There's a recreation of the early 70's Gapp and Roush four door maverick NHRA Pro Stocker.

Jack Roush went on to NASCAR and is a motorsports gazillionaire now, but he still fondly remembers his Professional Drag Racing days.

-90% Jimmy

[autorank]

5. Their Monday will be like their Friday.

How strange does it get? Who runs his staff?

There should be somebody running interference on this, even if they are completely indifferent to the
law.

McCain-Palin carry on the tradition of Bush and Reagan.

[Democat]

6. Hit them hard and often in the last 10 days!

Offense is the path to victory, defense the path to defeat! Hit McCain and then hit again, Obama!

[GarbagemanLB]

7. Why announce it beforehand, to give McCain time to prepare a response? Or are they planning somethin

g?

[Higher Standard]

11. To provide something for the pundits and news programs

By announcing it now, there's a chance it'll get talked about on tomorrow's news programs, putting the McCain surrogates into defense mode rather than allowing them to spend their whole time parroting the new talking points. Though I honestly don't expect Brokaw to touch anything like a controversial issue when he tap dances with McCain tomorrow morning on "Meet the Press."

[Life Long Dem]

8. His senate seat should be determined. Because he knows he's lost this election

It's just silly to to slap him on the wrist and tell him not to do it anymore, when he doesn't have anything to lose.

Let them talk about losing his senate seat and see how fast he plays by the rules.

[cui bono]

9. There is no one there to enforce the FEC laws.... well maybe there is a quorum now.

I think they filed on him months ago, about changing his mind on public funds but the problem is that there was a vacancy on the quorum and Bush will only nominate someone that won't get confirmed. I don't remember the exact details and I really, really have to get some sleep.

:boring: :boring:

Okay... here:

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/mccains_fec_problem.php

McCain's FEC Problem
By Paul Kiel - February 22, 2008, 1:17PM

We noted this yesterday. But The Washington Post does a good job today in sizing up the situation and its possible mammoth consequences for McCain's campaign.

There are really two completely separate issues here.

First, McCain opted in to the public finance system for the primaries last year. It meant that his struggling campaign would get $5.8 million in public matching funds in March. Now that he's effectively the Republican nominee, he wants out, because the system entails a spending limit of $54 million through the end of August. He's almost spent that much already, according to the Post.

So the McCain campaign sent the Federal Election Commission a letter (pdf) earlier this month saying that he was opting out. But there's a problem. And FEC Chairman David Mason, a Republican, made it plain in his letter (pdf) yesterday: McCain can't tell the FEC that he's out of the system. He can only ask.

And the FEC, which normally has six commissioners, can't give him an answer until it has a quorum of four commissioners. It currently only has two. That's because the Senate has been deadlocked over four nominees; Democrats insist on a separate confirmation vote for vote-suppression guru Hans von Spakovsky, and Republicans insist on a single vote for all nominees.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS245777+27-Feb-2008+PRN20080227
McCain FEC Deception Continues: New Documents Reveal Campaign Misleads on Kentucky...
Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:28pm EST

McCain FEC Deception Continues: New Documents Reveal Campaign Misleads on
Kentucky Ballot Application

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

<snip>
Since the DNC filed its complaint with the FEC on Monday, the McCain campaign
has tried to mislead the public by claiming they were withdrawing from the
matching funds program in the same way the Dean campaign did in 2003. In fact,
unlike McCain, the Dean campaign received FEC approval for withdrawing from
the system. McCain's campaign has also refused to admit that the FEC's
approval of his application for matching funds helped the campaign secure a
private loan and get on the ballot in some states, even though their ballot
applications clearly demonstrate that qualifying for matching funds helped
them avoid signature collection requirements in Ohio and Delaware.

:boring: :boring: