McCain Busts A Cap, And CNN Is There.
by Adam B
Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 09:42:18 AM PDT
Markos announced the complaint against John McCain yesterday, and I've tried to explain the details of McCain's machinations over the past month. Let's jump to the end of the Complaint for more:
Senator McCain has simply announced his unilateral plan to ignore the spending limits that he agreed to, in writing, in August 2007....
As documented in extensive detail by the Democratic National Committee ("DNC") in its complaint to the FEC on February 25, 2008, Senator McCain did, in fact, obligate matching funds as security for private financing for a $4,000,000 line of credit from Fidelity & Trust Bank. Therefore, even if the FEC could consider Senator McCain's request to withdraw from the matching fund program, that request would not be granted because he pledge the certification of funds as security for a loan to his campaign.
At the time that the DNC filed its complaint, it was not yet clear whether Senator McCain had, in fact, violated the spending limit based upon disclosure reports that covered the period through January 31, 2008. On that report, Senator McCain had already spent approximately $49,600,000.
Now, though, it's clear that the McCain Campaign has violated the spending cap. On March 20, 2008, Senator McCain's campaign filed its March Monthly report covering the period from February 1, 2008 through February 29, 2008. That report disclosed that Senator McCain's campaign has, as of February 29, 2008, in fact, exceeded the $56,757,500 spending limit. As of February 29, 2008, Senator McCain has disclosed spending $56,916,682 in connection with his quest for the Republican Presidential nomination (A copy of the relevant pages of Senator McCain's report is attached to this complaint). Of course, Senator McCain appears poised to spend tens of millions more between now and the Republican National Convention in connection with his primary campaign in direct violation of the spending limits that he agreed to abide by during the primary election period. Ultimately, it is quite conceivable that Senator McCain may spend in excess of $100,000,000 on primary expenses during the period defined by federal law for qualified primary expenses. Thus, it is likely that Senator McCain will exceed the primary spending limit by $40 million dollars or more.
For the reasons stated above, the FEC should (1) find reason to believe that Senator John McCain and the McCain Campaign have committed, 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. §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.
For the non-lawyers: "injunctive relief" means "stop him". Force him to abide by the caps and stop spending money. Period. Christy Hardin Smith explains the procedural posture:
As you likely know, the FEC is stymied at the moment due to the Bush Administration trying to shove Hans Von Spakovsky and all of his "caging" and other alleged nefarious campaign activities onto the election commission as a GOP dirty tricks ringer. Because the Democratic-led Congress said "no way" to Hans being voted through in a bloc vote, the Administration and their pal, Mitch McConnell, have balked at any FEC commissioner vote in the Senate. Which means that in this very important 2008 election cycle, the FEC is unable to act promptly to enforce the campaign finance laws.
But here's the deal: even with the FEC impotent (a situation which can change at any time), federal law allows complainants to file suit in federal court 120 days after filing a complaint if the FEC hasn't acted. For the DNC complaint, that's June 24, 2008; for today's complaint, if my math is right, July 24, 2008.
Please join the list of progressive activists who have signed onto this complaint, and spread the word.
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