Today, CREW sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking that the agency not permit Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) to use his campaign funds to pay for some of his staff’s legal fees incurred as a result of a Senate Ethics Committee investigation.  The letter can be found here.

The Ethics Committee’s inquiry was initiated after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint. CREW’s complaint, filed on March 5, 2007, asked that the Ethics Committee investigate whether Domenici violated Senate Rules by contacting the U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, David C. Iglesias, to pressure him about an ongoing corruption probe. 

Earlier this week, we learned that Domenici filed the FEC advisory opinion request on November 15, 2007. The FEC has never previously ruled that campaign funds can be used to pay for the legal expenses of congressional staff.

Melanie Sloan explained CREW's position:

We hope the FEC will not allow campaign funds to be used for new, additional purposes. Those who contribute to campaigns never envision that their donations will be spent for the lawyers of congressional staff. There is no nexus between staff legal fees and congressional campaigns. We hope the FEC doesn’t create one.