Election panel sides with McCain
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WASHINGTON — Republican John McCain won a round against Democrats on Thursday when the Federal Election Commission rejected their contention that he violated campaign finance laws during the GOP primary.
The FEC’s draft opinion affirms McCain’s right to bypass the public financing system and the spending limits that come with it.
That was a rejection of the Democratic National Committee’s complaint asserting that McCain’s campaign had wrongly received loans based on his participation in public financing before later withdrawing from the system.
Democrats pointed to a section of law that bars candidates from withdrawing from the public system if the candidate has “pledged public funds as security for private financing.”
FEC lawyers concluded that McCain did not pledge to use public financing as collateral for the loans. The FEC votes on the matter next week.
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