DNC to File Complaint Against McCain Campaign for Ignoring FEC Law

[zrinkill]

The DNC announced today that it will file a complaint with the FEC against John McCain's campaign Monday, calling on the FEC to investigate whether the McCain campaign violated or is about to violate the law by ignoring the spending limit agreement and other conditions Senator McCain agreed to when he became eligible to receive federal matching funds.

According to McCain's latest campaign filing, he has already spent $49.6 million and given that a month has passed, he has exceeded or is about to exceed the approximately $56.8 million spending limit.

"The crucial issue here is John McCain's integrity. John McCain poses as a reformer but seems to think reforms apply to everyone but him," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "He used taxpayer money to guarantee a loan so he could raise money from lobbyists and special interests -- it's the height of hypocrisy.

This is just the latest example of his do as I say, not as I do double standard, and it's unlikely to be the last. McCain financially benefited from this legally binding contract -- he got free ballot access, saving him millions of dollars, and he secured a $4 million line of credit to keep his campaign afloat by using public financing as collateral. He should follow the law."

The McCain campaign has incorrectly stated that McCain is doing what Dean did when he withdrew from public financing in his presidential bid, but they have the facts wrong. Dean did not use the promise of matching funds as collateral for a loan. Dean withdrew before the FEC determined eligibility for funds, unlike McCain. And he spent millions of dollars to get his name on the ballot after withdrawing, unlike McCain, who had free ballot access in many states because he pledged to accept matching funds.

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.

In the complaint, the DNC says "the Commission should (1) find reason to believe, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. Section 437g(a)(2), that Senator John McCain and the McCain Campaign have committed, or are about to commit, a violation of Chapter 96 of Title 26 and of the Commission's rules, and should conduct an investigation; and (2) pursuant to 26 U.S.C. Section 9040(c), petition the appropriate U.S. District Court for injunctive relief to implement and enforce the provisions of Chapter 96 against Senator McCain and the McCain Campaign."




http://www.foxbusiness.com/article/dnc-file-complaint-mccain-campaign-ignoring-fec-law_491713_1.html



The Desperation is setting in at the DNC



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[Danny White]

I laugh at the thought that McCain now has to lay in the campaign finance bed that he made! :lmao2:

Poor Johnny... too bad there are all these nasty strings attached to the campaign fundraising process. Gee, I wonder who made this process so cumbersome and unwieldy?

And now he has to violate the rules that he put into effect!

Serves the grand-standing SOB right!

[sacase]

Ok so let me get this right, he asked for some money and he was denied.....but he broke the rules because he asked?

[theogt]

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.

In the complaint, the DNC says "the Commission should (1) find reason to believe, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. Section 437g(a)(2), that Senator John McCain and the McCain Campaign have committed, or are about to commit, a violation of Chapter 96 of Title 26 and of the Commission's rules, and should conduct an investigation; and (2) pursuant to 26 U.S.C. Section 9040(c), petition the appropriate U.S. District Court for injunctive relief to implement and enforce the provisions of Chapter 96 against Senator McCain and the McCain Campaign."Sounds like he needs to hire better lawyers.

[Danny White]

Ok so let me get this right, he asked for some money and he was denied.....but he broke the rules because he asked?

He asked for the matching funds because he thought his campaign was doomed and it was in debt.

There is a deadline to apply, so he did, knowing that the matching funds would help him eliminate his debt when the campaign was over.

Because of the spending limits that come handcuffed with matching funds, there's no way any candidate accepts them if they think they're going to get the nomination. It's far too limiting. It's become a last-ditch thing to bail out failing campaigns... yet another reason the whole thing is so ridiculous.

Back to McCain... you don't actually get the funds as soon as you apply for them. It takes many months. But as soon as you apply and qualify, which he did, you can use that to get loans and get yourself on ballots (which costs money) using the promise of future matching funds as collateral.

Lo and behold, McCain's campaign wasn't dead yet. And thanks in part to the collateral that matching funds provided, he was able to resurrect the whole thing and go on to win the nomination.

Now, of course, raising money isn't a problem since he's the nominee. So he wants to "take back" his request for matching funds and lose the accompanying spending handcuffs in the process.

The Democrats are saying "too late."

The FEC will have to decide. But McCain caused a lot of these problems himself and he'll have to deal with them.