CREW Files FEC Complaint Against Gov. Palin & RNCimages.huffington...
CREW Files FEC Complaint Against Gov. Palin & RNC
Added 1669 days ago in Opinion
marketwatch.com — Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and several other political operatives associated with the RNC, for improperly spending $150,000 on clothing for Palin and her family, in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA).

According to news reports, the clothing and accessories purchases for Palin and her family included a whopping $49,425 spent at Saks Fifth Avenue, and a $75,062 spending spree at Neiman Marcus.

These shopping excursions violate campaign finance law.

FECA specifically prohibits a candidate for federal office from converting campaign funds to personal use. FEC regulations make clear that the prohibition applies to clothing purchases, such as those made for the Palin family.

The RNC implicitly admitted that the clothing was purchased with campaign funds by stating that it will be donated to charity after the campaign. The RNC also relies on this prospective contribution to explain why the personal use prohibition is not applicable as FEC regulations provide that donations by candidates to charitable organizations are not for personal use. It does not appear, however, that this exception would apply to the clothing worn by Palin's family, even if it does apply to her own.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today, "It is ridiculous that RNC would spend $150,000 to outfit a vice presidential nominee and her family at any time, but it is more outrageous

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Posted by JoshMadison
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In your opinion did the RNC violate the Federal Election Campaign Act by improperly spending $150,000 on clothing for Palin?
Yes
67%
No
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NOPUMADEAL
Posted 1668 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
You know its been amusing to hear about the Gov. Palin $150,000 shopping spree to Neiman Marcus AND Saks Fifth Avenue!

Since McCain painted Sen. Obama, whose wife shops at Target, as an elitist! Such ………..hypocrites!

The AVERAGE hard-working American make $44,389 a year! They can not even dream about shopping at those HIgh END stores!

PLEASE AMERICA LET'S REJECT THE POLITICS OF LIES-HATE-FEAR-AND-DIVISION THAT THE REPUBLICANS SPEW!
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