Another Daschle Election Law Violation

Here's the Argus Leader story about it and here's the Thune press release:

DASCHLE VIOLATES FEDERAL LAW AGAIN

Corporate funding of Daschle mailer violates soft money ban

SIOUX FALLS – Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle has again violated federal election law by soliciting and accepting corporate money for the South Dakota Tech Summit sponsored by Daschle, the John Thune for U.S. Senate campaign charged today.

“Tom Daschle has established a very disturbing pattern of violating federal election laws,” said John Thune for U.S. Senate campaign manager Dick Wadhams. “Just two weeks ago, Daschle failed to disclose that he paid for attack phone calls against John Thune and now he has abused the law prohibiting the use of corporate money on communications that promote him.”

Federal election law clearly bans the use of corporate or so-called “soft” money to pay for communications that refer to a federal candidate 120 days before a primary or general election.

Daschle, a declared candidate for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2004, has sponsored the South Dakota Tech Summit since 2001 and is hosting the summit again this year on May 24 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. The event website, www.sdtechsummit.com, features a photo and message from Daschle. A mailer that was delivered across South Dakota features a photo and message of Daschle as well. Daschle’s Senate staff helps coordinate the event.

Both the website and mailer highlight corporate sponsors of the summit. Various corporations are listed as either “Titanium Sponsors” or “Platinum Sponsors” apparently depending upon how much money the corporation gave to sponsor and pay for the event.

The recently enacted Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) expressly prohibits the use of corporate funds, otherwise known as “soft money,” for communications that promote a federal candidate 120 days before a primary or general election. South Dakota’s primary election is June 1, 2004, just under four weeks away. The Daschle mailer is clearly within the 120-day period before the June 1 primary election.

“Daschle flippantly dismissed his earlier violation as a mere oversight when he launched thousands of attack phone calls against Thune without complying with federal disclosure requirements,” said Wadhams. “Soliciting and spending corporate soft money under BCRA to promote himself through the South Dakota Tech Summit cannot be seen as anything but a clear and willful violation of federal election law.”