Democrats press finance complaint

The Democratic National Committee announced today that it will sue in federal court next week to force the Federal Election Commission to investigate a controversial loan that Republican John McCain's campaign secured during its cash-strapped days during the primaries.

Because the FEC has unfilled seats and does not have quorum, it has yet to act on a complaint the DNC filed in February.

At issue is a $4 million line of credit that critics say McCain received by using federal matching funds as collateral. Once his campaign rebounded, he opted out of the public financing system so he could raise private money. Campaign finance watchdogs have been disappointed in McCain in general for what they see as backing away from reform efforts.

"John McCain poses as a reformer but when it comes to his own campaign, he thinks the rules apply to everyone but him," DNC Chairman Howard Dean said in a statement. "Taxpayer dollars helped him secure a private loan to keep his campaign afloat, he got free ballot access which saved his campaign money and yet it's clear he doesn't think he needs to stick by the legally binding contract he signed. John McCain is breaking the law and doesn't seem to care. You can't say one thing on the campaign trail and then act as though the rules don't apply when they are inconvenient. That's not the kind of transparency the American people are looking for in their next president."

UPDATE: Sean Cairncross, chief counsel of the Republican National Committee, responded in a statement this afternoon: “Having been thrown out of court just one month ago, the DNC now announces that it will once more file the same meritless lawsuit, again wasting judicial resources for its own political agenda. Once again, the DNC has neither the law nor the facts on their side."

He argued that since McCain never actually received any federal matching funds, he could withdraw from the public financing system without penalty. "Notably, the controlling law is not mentioned in the DNC’s filings, or the fact that Sen. McCain’s voluntary withdrawal from the primary system followed the precedent set by previous Presidential candidates, including now-DNC Chair Howard Dean in the 2004 election. Unfortunately, the DNC’s attempt to mislead the press and public with meritless court filings is not unusual. We are confident that the district court will again throw out this frivolous court filing, and that the FEC will dismiss the DNC’s complaint."

For the general election, both McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have not formally committed to public financing -- unlike every other major party presidential candidate since the 1970s Watergate reforms -- and it appears unlikely they will do so.