McCain busts the FEC's spending cap, violating campaign finance law by Joe Sudbay (DC)

[Demeter]

http://www.americablog.com/2008/03/mccain-busts-fecs-spending-cap.html

John McCain, who raised a paltry $11 million in February, has been scamming the campaign finance system. The McCain campaign's February FEC report is the here. He is currently in public finance system, which has a spending limit. The way the Associated Press tallied McCain's expenditures, he's busted the spending limit, which is a violation of the law: McCain has now spent $58.4 million in his primary bid, surpassing the $50 million limit he would have faced if he participated in the public financing system he had been certified to join. McCain has decided not to accept the public matching funds, but the FEC wants him to assure regulators that he did not use the promise of public money as collateral for a $4 million loan.

McCain and his lawyers said the loan was secured with other collateral, thus freeing him to spend as much money as he wishes on his primary campaign. The Democratic National Committee has filed a complaint with the FEC arguing McCain cannot withdraw from the public finance system without FEC approval. Also, McCain used his participation in the public finance system to secure his placement on the ballots in key states like Ohio.

SEE ARTICLE FOR LINK TO the DNC's complaint.

Now, AP seems to think McCain is out of the system, but that's a decision for the FEC, not John McCain or AP. And, the FEC already told McCain that he cannot withdraw from the system as the Washington Post reported last month: The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall.

It's serious -- and, as the Post noted, it's criminal: Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison