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The Democratic National Committee is calling for a full investigation by the Federal Election Commission of Sen. John McCain’s withdrawal from the public matching funds program. FEC commissioners are meeting Thursday to consider a staff recommendation that McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was within his rights to withdraw from the program. The DNC filed a complaint in February this year, arguing that McCain was not allowed to do so because he never formally asked the commission if he could withdraw. Joe Sandler, the DNC’s general counsel, wrote a letter to the FEC Tuesday night arguing that the commission should not consider McCain’s decision to exit the matching funds program because there is no pending request from his campaign. Instead, the FEC should conduct a full investigation before they vote on their complaint as required by law, according to Sandler. “The American people have a right to know whether the John McCain who once championed himself as a reformer saved his campaign by breaking the laws he helped craft. We are calling on the FEC to promptly conduct and conclude an investigation into the complaint we filed four months ago so that this issue can be resolved in the appropriate manner,” Sandler said. Democrats argue that McCain secured a loan that helped save his campaign by offering federal matching funds as collateral. The FEC certified McCain for the program in December and the Arizona senator, had he accepted the matching funds, would have been bound to a spending cap of $54 million for his primary run until the Republican Party’s convention in St. Paul, Minn. By February 2008, after primary victories in New Hampshire and South Carolina, McCain had withdrawn from the program. That removed the spending cap, and the senator’s campaign proceeded to spend above the cap. In its complaint, the DNC contends that this was against campaign finance law, since McCain did not have FEC permission, and that the senator should be fined for his actions. FEC staff, however, has since recommended to the commissioners that the GOP presidential candidate was within his rights to withdraw from the program. Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, dismissed the DNC move by citing the FEC recommendation. “The FEC staff has already weighed in against their frivolous complaint. It’s not surprising they would keep on this. I think it is sad,” said Rogers. |
