Sunday, March 07, 2004
Why hasn't Crisco Johnny resigned, since his campaign committee broke the law?
And given how toothless our campaign laws are, it's amazing anyone could break them!
"Rule of law" and all that. Now I know why the bilious attack ....
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft's 1998 leadership political action committee, Spirit of America, and his Senate reelection campaign committee, Ashcroft 2000, raised more than $100,000 last year in order to pay a fine and legal costs for violating campaign finance laws, according to Federal Election Commission records and Garrett Lott, treasurer of both committees.
Ashcroft's role and the ongoing operation of his two committees continue to be the focus of legal concern. Late last week, the Massachusetts-based National Voting Rights Institute (NVRI), which filed the original FEC complaint against Ashcroft and his committees, urged Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine to investigate "potential civil and criminal violations of federal law" by the two committees and Ashcroft while he has been attorney general.
The FEC dealt only with civil violations of the election laws; only Justice can investigate possible criminal violations of those laws.
John Bonifaz, general counsel of the NVRI, said in an interview that he was disturbed that committees carrying the name of the attorney general or associated with him are being used to raise money to pay off campaign finance penalties and related legal costs.
"It is unseemly for the nation's chief law enforcement officer, whose committees are under investigation, to use those very committees to raise funds from campaign contributors as a means for defending against possible criminal charges and paying civil fines," Bonifaz said. "Ashcroft is very powerful, and people who get called are going to feel pressure to make such contributions."
(Walter Pincus, WaPo, though banished to page 4.)
"Rule of law" and all that. Now I know why the bilious attack ....
