CREW APPLAUDS FEC DECISION ON LIMITING USE OF SEN. VITTER’S CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR LEGAL FEES

21 Aug 2008 // Washington, DC - CREW applauds the FEC’s decision today to reject Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) request to use campaign funds to pay for legal fees he incurred in quashing a subpoena to testify in the trial of the so-called D.C. Madam, Deborah Jean Palfrey. Although campaign finance law prohibits members of Congress from converting campaign funds to “personal use,” the FEC created an exception permitting the use of campaign funds for legal expenses related to allegations arising from campaign or officeholder activity. In recent years, this exception has threatened to swallow the rule.

CREW’s executive director Melanie Sloan said, “Today’s decision indicates the FEC has finally recognized that at least in some cases, members of Congress should not be allowed to use campaign funds to bail them out of legal problems of their own making. This breaks with the FEC’s pattern of granting members permission to pay lawyers with campaign funds nearly every time the issue has been raised. It remains to be seen whether this is a one-time decision or whether the FEC really is breaking with its past precedents.”