WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign told federal regulators Monday that he does not need their approval to withdraw from the public-finance system for the primaries.
The campaign, in a letter to Federal Election Commission chairman David Mason, also said McCain did not encumber his potential share of public matching funds as collateral for a crucial $4 million loan he obtained late last year.
McCain lawyer Trevor Potter said the Supreme Court concluded that public financing for campaigns is constitutional because it is voluntary.
“As a result, candidates have a constitutional right to withdraw from the program,” Potter, a former FEC chairman, wrote Mason.
McCain’s loan has become a central issue in the Arizona senator’s attempt to bypass the public-financing system and the strict spending caps that come with it. Lawyers for the lending bank said in a letter Monday that the loan agreement was carefully drafted to give McCain the opportunity to withdraw from public financing during the primary elections.
The flurry of correspondence came the same day that the Democratic Party filed a complaint against McCain, calling on the FEC to investigate whether the likely Republican presidential nominee can legally bypass public financing for the primary. The FEC has asked McCain to explain the loan terms.
