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GOP Members Deadlock FEC, Undermining Positions on 527s, Embezzlement, Disclosure

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In their first six months in office, newly appointed members of the Federal Election Commission have rolled back major precedents and transformed the agency's enforcement policies in key areas, according to a BNA review of FEC documents made public since the new commissioners arrived last summer.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090105/56509LOGO )

In a series of deadlocked votes that took place in closed sessions and have received little public attention, the FEC's three Republican commissioners have voted to reverse the agency's course on key issues, including:

    --  limits on so-called Section 527 political organizations;
    --  penalties for campaign aides who may have embezzled funds from political
        committees; and
    --  requirements for campaigns to use their "best efforts" to
        disclose identifying information about each contributor giving over
        $200, including the contributor's occupation and employer.

The six-member FEC is divided equally between Republican and Democratic commissioners. In each of the precedent-setting cases cited above, the FEC commissioners stalemated 3-3, with the three Democratic members voting to pursue enforcement action and the three GOP commissioners voting to drop the matter. Tie votes resulted in the enforcement matters being closed without any penalty. The recent votes represent a sharp break with past.

In addition, information about campaign finance enforcement cases handled since the new commissioners' arrival has quietly been posted on a section of the FEC's website at http://www.fec.gov, which is dedicated to providing public information about closed matters. The FEC in recent months has declined to issue press releases announcing most of its closed cases, as was done routinely for nearly all cases in previous years. Information about ongoing cases is kept confidential by the commission.

The number of major enforcement cases the FEC completed in 2008 was only about half the average number of closed cases in previous years. That means many more active cases are believed to remain in the pipeline for the commissioners to vote on in the coming months.

BNA is the leading independent publisher of print and electronic news and information for professionals in business and government. BNA produces more than 300 news services, including the highly respected Daily Labor Report, U.S. Law Week, and Daily Report for Executives. Visit BNA online at www.bna.com.

SOURCE BNA

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GOP Members Deadlock FEC, Undermining Positions on 527s, Embezzlement, Disclosure