MSNBC's Shuster claimed "[c]ampaign financing ... could help McCain tarnish" Obama -- did not mention McCain may be breaking campaign finance laws

Summary: MSNBC's David Shuster asserted that "[Sen. John] McCain also made clear he will continue to insist that Barack Obama stay in the public financing system for the general election as he promised," adding that the issue "could help McCain tarnish the image of Obama's political purity." But Shuster did not mention that McCain may be violating campaign finance laws by surpassing spending limits under the public financing system for the primary period.

In a report aired on the April 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball concerning Sen. John McCain's interview with host Chris Matthews on the April 15 edition of Hardball, MSNBC correspondent David Shuster asserted that "McCain also made clear he will continue to insist that Barack Obama stay in the public financing system for the general election as he promised." Shuster later added, "Campaign financing isn't exactly a headline-grabbing issue, but it could help McCain tarnish the image of Obama's political purity." But Shuster did not mention a campaign finance issue that could "tarnish" McCain's own "image of ... political purity": McCain may be violating campaign finance laws by surpassing spending limits under the public financing system for the primary period. Federal Election Commission chairman David Mason has taken the position that McCain cannot opt out of public financing in the primary without FEC approval, as McCain has attempted to do, meaning that every day that McCain spends beyond the limits of the public financing system, he could be breaking federal law.

The Associated Press reported on February 21: "The government's top campaign finance regulator says John McCain can't drop out of the primary election's public financing system until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to kickstart his once faltering presidential campaign. Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason, in a letter to McCain this week, said the all-but-certain Republican nominee needs to assure the commission that he did not use the promise of public money to help secure a $4 million line of credit he obtained in November." The loan could have required McCain to remain in the race, regardless of whether his candidacy was viable, in order to receive matching funds to pay back the loan. A March 23 Washington Post article reported that "McCain has officially broken the limits imposed by the presidential public financing system," and a February 22 article in the Post noted that "[k]nowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison." Under the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act, violators could face fines up to $25,000 and up to five years of jail time.

As Media Matters for America has noted, several media outlets have reported McCain's criticism of Obama for Obama's purported "promise[]" to accept public financing in the general election without reporting that McCain may currently be in violation of public financing spending limits for the primary election.

From the April 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball:

SHUSTER: But McCain also made clear he will continue to insist that Barack Obama stay in the public financing system for the general election as he promised. Obama's record haul in the primaries has the Obama campaign thinking otherwise.

[begin video clip]

McCAIN: Senator Obama a year ago signed a piece of paper that said that if the Republican nominee would take the public financing he would too.

MATTHEWS: Right, are you going to hold him to that if he gets the nomination?

McCAIN: Well, he is now --

MATTHEWS: Well, you gonna hold him to it publicly?

McCAIN: I have been trying to hold him to it.

[end video clip]

SHUSTER: Campaign financing isn't exactly a headline-grabbing issue, but it could help McCain tarnish the image of Obama's political purity. In the meantime, McCain is already mindful of general election swing states as evidenced by his eager participation in the Hardball college tour in Pennsylvania. I'm David Shuster for Hardball in Washington.

—M.G.