I
mentioned earlier today that it was quite a thing to see John McCain denouncing Barack Obama for breaking his word on public financing when McCain himself is at this moment breaking the law in continuing to spend over the spending limits he promised to abide by through the primary season in exchange for public financing. (By the FEC's rules, we're still in the primary phase of the election and will be until the conventions.)
I want to return to this subject though because this is not hyperbole or some throw away line. He's really doing it. McCain opting into public financing, accepted the spending limits and then profited from that opt-in by securing a campaign saving loan. And then he used some clever, but not clever enough lawyering, to opt back out. And the person charged with saying what flies and what doesn't -- the Republican head of the FEC -- said he's not allowed to do that. He can't opt out unilaterally unless the FEC says he can.
The most generous interpretation of what happened is that McCain's lawyer came up with an ingenious legal two step that allowed him to double dip in the campaign finance system, eat his cake and spend it too. But even if you buy that line, successful gaming of the system doesn't really count as strict adherence. And the point is irrelevant since the head of the FEC -- a Republican -- says McCain cannot do this on his own.
Like everything that has to do with campaign finance, the details are a little ... well, detailed. But they're worth understanding. Last February in this episode of TPMtv, we explained just how McCain cheated the campaign finance laws ...
(Video:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/200902.php">TPMtv: Campaign Finance Deformed)
06.19.08 -- 3:18PM By Josh Marshall
Someone help me here. McCain is grandstanding on public financing when he is, as we speak, breaking the law by continuing to spend unlimited primary campaign money after opting in to public financing for the primary phase of the campaign?
And then greenlighting the outside 527s to go after Obama only days ago?
Something doesn't compute.
Posted by Michael Link on February 25, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Today we're filing a complaint with the FEC against John McCain's campaign. In the complaint, we ask them to investigate whether the McCain campaign is about to violate the spending limit law he agreed to when he became eligible to receive matching funds.
I've embedded the document below, or you can download
here.
<...>
The press release we issued a few days ago expresses pretty nicely how this scheme by McCain's campaign worked:
In order to receive matching funds, John McCain signed a binding agreement with the FEC to accept spending limits and to abide by the conditions of receiving those funds. The FEC makes clear that any request to withdraw from the agreement must be granted by the FEC. In other words, McCain can't just unilaterally withdraw. FEC Chairman David Mason made this clear in a letter to McCain advising him that the law requires the FEC to approve his request to withdraw from his contract.
According to past Commission rulings, the McCain campaign would not be allowed to withdraw from matching funds because it has already violated a key condition for being let out of the program - pledging matching funds as collateral for a private loan. McCain obtained a $4 million line of credit -- drew $2,971,697 from it - and documents make clear that the promise of public financing was used to secure his loan.
More than this, his campaign also got free ballot access, worth millions of dollars, because of his public financing. But now -- after he's received all this financial help -- he wants to unilaterally withdraw from the program.
This is about more than spending limits and the FEC; this is a question of integrity.
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