Sam Youngman at The Hill reports that Fred Thompson may be violating the law with his prolonged presidential candidate tease. The former Tennessee senator and million dollar lobbyist is 'raising eyebrows' by fundraising like a candidate while playing cute and coy about coming out as a candidate.
Are they playing the Law and Order theme song at Thompson's fundraisers?
Of course, the prolonged tease means that the low-energy actor doesn't have to overly exert himself by sharing the debate stage with all those other strict daddy candidates.
Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) may be violating Federal Election Commission (FEC) laws by failing to report funds raised in the second quarter, which ends tomorrow — giving his probable presidential campaign a one-month fundraising advantage over his rivals in the third quarter. . .
Those testing the waters are forbidden from referring to themselves as candidates, advertising or trying to get on a ballot. Perhaps more importantly, the laws forbid such a person from “rais[ing] more money than what is reasonably needed to test the waters or amass funds (seed money) to be used after candidacy is established.”
Thompson attended at least one $2,300 fundraiser in Nashville this week, and as The Hill reported earlier this month, 100 of his supporters were asked to raise a total of about $4.7 million. The Hill reported last week that Thompson has hired a Midwest/Northeast finance director, a move that could be seen as indicating he has made up his mind.
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