In yet another indication that the charges being leveled against John McCain -- that he doesn't practice what he preaches on campaign finance law, that he stretches the bounds of what's legal (perhaps even crossing the line at times) -- the right wing Judicial Watch (underscore right wing; it was founded during the Clinton administration and hounded the Democratic White House with 18 lawsuits) has filed an FEC complaint against McCain (h/t Wall Street Journal).

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it filed a formal complaint, dated April 22, 2008, with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) related to a fundraising luncheon held at London's Spencer House to benefit Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.  The venue for the event was apparently donated to the campaign by foreign nationals, in violation of federal campaign finance laws.

"Recent news reports suggest that Sen. John McCain and John McCain for President may have accepted an in-kind contribution from foreign nationals Lord Rothschild OM GBE and the Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild of Great Britain in contravention of federal election laws," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton wrote in a complaint letter dated April 22, 2008.  "On behalf of Judicial Watch and its supporters, I hereby request that the FEC investigate the matter."

The McCain fundraiser was held on March 20, 2008 at London's Spencer House, billed as "London's most magnificent 18th century private palace."  The McCain campaign distributed an invitation indicating that the site for the luncheon had been provided "by kind permission of Lord Rothschild, OM GBE and the Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild," who are both foreign nationals.  In statements to the press, the McCain campaign referred to the luncheon as a "fundraiser."

While it is, as yet, unclear how much money was raised during the luncheon, had the venue not been donated to the McCain campaign, the net profit from the event would have been significantly reduced.  The donation of the venue, therefore, represents an illegal in-kind campaign contribution.

According to 2 U.S.C. § 441e, Contributions and donations by foreign nationals, it is illegal for any foreign national to "make a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value" to a Federal, State or Local election.

This is a bit of a "man-bites-dog" story, with a conservative organization coming out and hitting McCain on fundraising issues. As such, it stands out on it's own. But it is also part of a broader trend. This is not the first serious question about McCain's not-clearly-kosher campaign finance tactics -- there remains a pending FEC complaint over whether he is in violation of the public financing program, which he opted into and then attempted to unilaterally opt out of without the approval of the commission. It's not even the first serious question about this particular London fundraiser. As I noted last month, McCain flew to London on the taxpayer dime, didn't repay the federal government at first, and then when he finally did refused to pay as much as he owed it. The release from DNC general counsel Joe Sandler read at the time:

"The 2007 ethics reform law and the regulations implementing it require that when a candidate mixes campaign and official travel when using a government plane, the campaign travelers must reimburse the government for the full cost of an equivalent round trip charter flight.  Reasonable estimates place the cost of a one-way charter flight from Washington to London at between $20,000 and $56,000.  As a result, McCain's stated intention to reimburse the federal government $3,000 almost certainly falls far short of what the law requires."

With McCain apparently playing fast and loose with campaign finance statutes and regulations, it's going to be awfully difficult for the Senator to run on a reformist platform this fall, let alone have much credibility if attacking Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for not participating in the public finance system in the general election, if either choses not to opt in. (That is, of course, assuming that the establishment media folks inside the Beltway stop merely reporting what they think the story is with McCain and campaign finance, and actually start looking at the evidence of his questionable activities...)