FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 26 March 2008
Demand Action on Campaign Finance Violations
WASHINGTON, DC MARCH 26, 2008 — On Tuesday, a group of progressive bloggers filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission charging that Senator McCain and his campaign have violated the Federal Election Campaign Act. He has spent in excess of the Act’s limits, limits he agreed to in August of 2007 as part of his participation in the matching funds program which he used as security for a campaign loan.
“John McCain is a campaign finance criminal who is flouting the very regulations he championed,” Jane Hamsher of the blog Firedoglake commented while delivering the complaint. “He believes the law is for someone else, not him. It’s the height of hypocrisy.”
A large group of progressive bloggers are signing on to this complaint and citizens will be invited to participate as well.
In joining the complaint, Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, said “John McCain has officially blown past campaign spending limits mandated by his original acceptance of public campaign funding. While he has signaled his intent to withdraw from such financing, that has been hindered by the fact that he used the promise of public funding to secure a campaign loan.”
The full text of the complaint and video of the complaint being filed is available at http://action.shadowproof.wpengine.com/page/petition/mccainfec along with a growing list of signatories.
McCain applied for federal matching funds in August of 2007 and used this commitment as surety for a $4million line of credit for his campaign. These actions require the Senator to limit his Primary election spending to no more than $56,757,500 but his most recent financial disclosures show expenditures of $56,916,682 and all additional expenditures by his campaign until the Republican National Convention will also be violations of FEC regulations.
The signatories of this complaint are demanding action by the FEC to halt this violation of Public Financing standards and protect our electoral process.
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Media contacts:
Christina O’Connell – media dot firedoglake at gmail dot com