Obama’s Illegal Contributions And The FEC Complaint
By NancyA on August 4, 2008 at 6:29 PM in Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Federal Elections Commission, Obama
Earlier today UppityWoman wrote a satirical piece on the illegal contributions. I am however addressing the need for a citizen, any citizen, to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission so Obama can’t skate on these illegal filings.
For some months now there has been speculation that Obama’s campaign has been taking illegal donations. Last night, the Federal Election Commission filings for Obama for America were released at Right Side News.
I know these illegal contributions are against the law of the FEC.
Not too long ago the Wall Street Journal Market Watch released an interview with the brothers, Mosir and Hosam Edwan, who live in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip originally published in the World News Daily. Their stories are conflicting. They said they bought t-shirts for $9 from the campaign and resold them for a profit, that doesn’t hold water since Obama t-shirts are $20.08. They did admit to giving money to the campaign finally.
Since I am a policy/law wonk (much the same as Hillary) I did some digging and got an education on filing a complaint with the FEC. I have furnished that information for you.
Introduction
The Federal Election Commission frequently receives questions about how to file a complaint concerning possible violations of federal election campaign laws.1 This brochure explains how to file a complaint with the Commission and describes how complaints are processed.
I. Filing a Complaint
Any person may file a complaint if he or she believes a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Laws or Commission regulations has occurred or is about to occur. The complaint must be made in writing and sent to the Office of General Counsel, Federal Election Commission, 999 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463. The original must be submitted along with three copies, if possible. Facsimile or e-mail transmissions are not acceptable. A complaint must comply with certain requirements. It must:
Provide the full name and address of the person filing the complaint (called the complainant); and
Be signed, sworn to and notarized. This means that the notary public’s certificate must say “…signed and sworn to before me…,” or words that connote the complaint was affirmed by the complainant, (such as “under penalty of perjury”).
Furthermore, in order for a complaint to be considered complete and proper, it should:
Clearly recite the facts that show specific violations under the Commission’s jurisdiction (citations to the law and regulations are not necessary);
Clearly identify each person, committee or group that is alleged to have committed a violation (called the respondent);
Include any documentation supporting the allegations, if available; and
Differentiate between statements based on the complainant’s (the person who files the complaint) personal knowledge and those based on information and belief. Statements not based on personal knowledge should identify the source of the information.
For self-reported complaints (called “sua sponte” submissions), the submission should include an admission of the violation(s), a complete recitation of the facts along with all relevant documentation that explains how the violation was discovered, the internal actions that were taken in response to the violation and what other agencies, if any, are investigating the violation (or facts surrounding the violation).
The Commission seeks to increase the number of self-reported submissions in order to expedite enforcement of the law. To encourage self-reporting, the Commission will generally negotiate penalties between 25 and 75 percent lower than those for matters arising by other means, such as through complaints or the Commission’s own review of reports. In certain circumstances, the Commission may allow committees who voluntarily report their violations and make a complete report of their internal investigation to proceed directly into conciliation before the Commission makes a finding as to whether there is reason to believe the committee violated campaign finance laws or Commission regulations.
I am the complainant and of course Obama for America will be the respondent. While this educated me on filing the complaint there is no sample complaint form. They have the requirements listed for the complaint but no letter.
As I was unsure of how to proceed with “my complaint”, I called the FEC Information Office. I spoke with a young man in that office, very nice by the way, and read him my complaint. He said that my complaint had just the correct information in the body of it. Here is my complaint in its entirety, minus personal information:
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20463
FEC Complaint:
Obama for America Campaign
According to FEC filings from the Obama for America campaign they have
accepted ionations totafing nearly $29,000 from someone living inGaza’ None of
the money has been returned as far as we can tell. According to laws no donations
may be taken from non-US citizens’
I believe that the obama campaign took these donations with full knowledge that
they come from someone living inGaza.It appears on the filings that they tried to
hide the fact it was from Gaza by abbreviating it GA. There is no Rafah GA.
That is about all the information you have to put in your complaint. And remember to put any supporting evidence, which I have, in the envelope before mailing it. The FEC information office was helpful and asked if I had their address.
There is one other piece of advice that I received via counsel, submit duplicate copies of the complaint and supporting documents to the Department of Justice. I did write a letter addressed to the Attorney General of the United States, the envelope did contain the copy of the complaint and supporting documents. I know it sounds redundant, but this is an outright violation of federal laws and should not go unpunished.
The Obama campaign is not above the law!
by Ronald Scott
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