I wonder if Romney was on the planes with him?
FEC draft: Kerry broke spending limits
FEC draft: Kerry broke spending limits
By: Kenneth P. Vogel May 30, 2007 09:32 PM EST
John Kerry spent $1.4 million more than federal rules allowed during his 2004 presidential bid, primarily on customizing two campaign planes, according to a draft audit by the Federal Election Commission.
If the commissioners approve the staff findings at a meeting Thursday, Kerry’s campaign could have to repay the overspending to the U.S. Treasury, since his unsuccessful general election campaign was funded by tax dollars.
In order to receive the public funds, Kerry, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, and his running mate, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, agreed to spend $74.6 million or less on their general election campaign against President Bush.
Marc Elias, a lawyer for Kerry-Edwards, says the campaign stayed within the limits and accused the commission’s auditors of taking “an unsupportably aggressive view of the law.”
The commission – a statutory panel of three appointees from each party, now with one vacant Republican seat – can reject or amend parts of the audit before voting on it.
And Elias said “I believe that at the end of the day the commissioners will look at the draft audit report and reject novel legal theories that can’t be justified.”
If commissioners agree Kerry-Edwards overspent, though, Elias said the campaign, which had $5.3 million on hand at the end of March, likely will appeal the decision rather than pay the fine.
The draft audit also found the campaign’s media vendor improperly invested and earned interest on public funds. And auditors allege the campaign misreported its media buys and its outstanding debt.
Though he disputed other findings, Elias was most critical of the calculations behind the overspending allegation, some of which he said “simply make no sense.”
For instance, he said Kerry’s primary campaign committee, funded through private donations and not subject to spending restrictions, should have been able to pay the $1.3 million to reconfigure the Boeing 757 that jetted Kerry around the country and the Boeing 727 that carried Edwards.
The campaign paid nearly $225,000 to install a telephone system on Edward’s plane and more than $63,000 to apply decals to the side of Kerry’s, according to the auditors, who argue the general election campaign should pay for the customizations. They assert that since the decals identified Edwards, who is seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, as Kerry’s running mate “they clearly referred to the general campaign, as the Democratic Party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees, and not to Sen. Kerry’s primary campaign.”
A FEC audit is required for any presidential campaign that accepts public funding, including Bush’s reelection effort, which like Kerry’s accepted tax dollars for the general election. The FEC approved an audit of Bush-Cheney 2004 at a March meeting in which commissioners differed sharply over whether Bush should have been allowed to split the cost of $80 million in ads with the Republican National Committee.
Kerry-Edwards quickly copied the so-called “hybrid ad” technique, which was a new development in the 2004 campaign, and the draft audit references the dispute.
The commissioners plan to consider new rules for hybrid ads this summer.
TM & © THE POLITICO & POLITICO.COM, a division of Allbritton Communications Company
John Kerry spent $1.4 million more than federal rules allowed during his 2004 presidential bid, primarily on customizing two campaign planes, according to a draft audit by the Federal Election Commission.
If the commissioners approve the staff findings at a meeting Thursday, Kerry’s campaign could have to repay the overspending to the U.S. Treasury, since his unsuccessful general election campaign was funded by tax dollars.
In order to receive the public funds, Kerry, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, and his running mate, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, agreed to spend $74.6 million or less on their general election campaign against President Bush.
Marc Elias, a lawyer for Kerry-Edwards, says the campaign stayed within the limits and accused the commission’s auditors of taking “an unsupportably aggressive view of the law.”
The commission – a statutory panel of three appointees from each party, now with one vacant Republican seat – can reject or amend parts of the audit before voting on it.
And Elias said “I believe that at the end of the day the commissioners will look at the draft audit report and reject novel legal theories that can’t be justified.”
If commissioners agree Kerry-Edwards overspent, though, Elias said the campaign, which had $5.3 million on hand at the end of March, likely will appeal the decision rather than pay the fine.
The draft audit also found the campaign’s media vendor improperly invested and earned interest on public funds. And auditors allege the campaign misreported its media buys and its outstanding debt.
Though he disputed other findings, Elias was most critical of the calculations behind the overspending allegation, some of which he said “simply make no sense.”
For instance, he said Kerry’s primary campaign committee, funded through private donations and not subject to spending restrictions, should have been able to pay the $1.3 million to reconfigure the Boeing 757 that jetted Kerry around the country and the Boeing 727 that carried Edwards.
The campaign paid nearly $225,000 to install a telephone system on Edward’s plane and more than $63,000 to apply decals to the side of Kerry’s, according to the auditors, who argue the general election campaign should pay for the customizations. They assert that since the decals identified Edwards, who is seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, as Kerry’s running mate “they clearly referred to the general campaign, as the Democratic Party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees, and not to Sen. Kerry’s primary campaign.”
A FEC audit is required for any presidential campaign that accepts public funding, including Bush’s reelection effort, which like Kerry’s accepted tax dollars for the general election. The FEC approved an audit of Bush-Cheney 2004 at a March meeting in which commissioners differed sharply over whether Bush should have been allowed to split the cost of $80 million in ads with the Republican National Committee.
Kerry-Edwards quickly copied the so-called “hybrid ad” technique, which was a new development in the 2004 campaign, and the draft audit references the dispute.
The commissioners plan to consider new rules for hybrid ads this summer.
TM & © THE POLITICO & POLITICO.COM, a division of Allbritton Communications Company
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