Revisiting Reichert's FEC Filings

It has been over a month since Friends of Dave Reichert and the Reichert Washington Victory Committee filed their October Quarterly FEC reports that revealed significant FEC rules violations, and it appears neither filing has yet to be amended or re-filed to correct the snafus.

For those with a short memory, let me recap the issue.

In late August President Bush came to Bellevue to raise money for Dave Reichert and the Washington State Republican Party. That event, by FEC rules (see Appendix C), required the creation of a joint fundraising account. All monies would be made out to the joint account and then be disbursed to the Reichert campaign and party according to FEC contribution cap limitations. The Reichert Washington Victory Committee was the joint account, but due to mistakes made by the organizers, money that should have gone into the joint account instead went directly into the Friends of Dave Reichert account.

I wrote about this in considerable detail a month ago.

The Reichert campaign issued a press release trying to explain away the snafu, and in so doing effectively admitting to FEC rules violations. However, Reichert campaign manager Mike Shields' explanation has yet to result in a corrected FEC filing that clarifies what money was brought in through the joint account. It still isn't clear how much money was raised, especially since the party and campaign's boasted numbers for the event still far exceed any reported filing we can verify against.

In the past, far less egregious fundraising violations have resulted in complaints being filed about them. I'm frankly surprised that, as far as I know, none have in this case.