It was late Thursday night when John McCain's February FEC report was posted on line. Friday morning, we reported that McCain had broken the campaign finance laws by exceeding the FEC's spending cap. McCain is in the public campaign finance system and subject to the limit on spending. There was silence on that issue from the traditional media. Until now.
Could it be that someone in the traditional media actually wrote about John McCain's illegal campaign finance spending? The Boston Globe takes a stab at it today:
John McCain has officially broken the limits imposed by the presidential public financing system, according to spending reports filed last week by the campaign.
The senator from Arizona has spent $58.4 million on his Republican primary effort. Those who have committed to public financing can spend no more than $54 million on their primary bid.
McCain's lawyers contend that the spending cap no longer applies. The senator was certified to enter the matching-funds program last year when he was starved for cash. But once he started to win, he decided to hold off. On Feb. 6, after his Super Tuesday victories, he wrote to the Federal Election Commission to announce he would withdraw. His lawyers said that gave him freedom to spend as much as he wanted.
But David Mason, chairman of the commission, wrote to McCain's campaign last month to alert him that the commission had not yet granted that withdrawal request, and that the commission would first have to vote on the matter. One snag is that the commission has four vacancies and therefore lacks a quorum to consider the matter.
See, John McCain doesn't get to decide if he's out of the FEC system. The FEC decides. And, it will evaluate McCain's scam. Don't forget, as the Washington Post reported, it's a crime:
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.
