This week Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason sent a letter to John McCain notifying him that his campaign will not be allowed to opt out of the public campaign financing requested for the primary campaign until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to help fund his campaign in the last quarter of 2007.
The FEC wants assurance that McCain did not use the promise of the public funds to obtain the loan a question that was raised by wording contained in the loan agreement from Fidelity Bank and Trust.
Among other things the loan agreement is reported to say that if McCain were to withdraw from the public financing system before the end of 2007 and lose the New Hampshire primary by more than 10 percent, he would have to reapply to the FEC for public matching funds and provide the bank additional collateral for the loan.
Even if McCain asnwers the FEC's questions regarding the loan favorably he still faces an additional to hurdle opt out of the public financing system. The Senate has not confirmed Bush's appointees to the commission so there is not a quorum of members to approve his request.
If McCain is unable to opt out of the public campaign financing his campaign will be limited to spending $54 million in the primaries, a limit the campaign is reported to be near.
Related Posts:
John McCain Requests Withdrawal from Presidential Election Financing System
Source:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSgCX-MGmRepsojAyirvJbg2ZztAD8UUOVLO0
John McCain Questioned by FEC on Loan
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