Obama unlikely to be probed on campaign funds
November 12th, 2008 - 4:30 pm ICT by ANI
Washington, Nov.12 (ANI): The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaigns record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul.
According to Politico, Obama is expected to escape that level of scrutiny mostly because he declined an 84 million dollar public grant for his campaign that automatically triggers an audit and because the sheer volume of cash he raised and spent minimizes the significance of his errors.
On the other hand, the McCain campaign is likely to face a complete and rigorous FEC audit that could cost it millions of dollars to defend because McCain accepted the 84 million dollar public grant, which barred him from raising or spending more.
Through the end of September, McCain had put away 9.4 million dollars in a special fund to pay for the audit.
The Obama campaign does not expect to be audited, but spokesman Ben LaBolt said it would be ready in the event it is.
Obama is the first presidential candidate to decline public funding in the general election. (ANI)
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Tags: accounting, allegations, barack obama, ben labolt, campaign funds, donations, fec audit, federal election commission, general election, mccain campaign, million dollars, presidential campaigns, presidential candidate, scrutiny, sheer volume, spokesman, windfall