April 10, 2013 05:30 PM UTC

At Least It's Not Your Stupid Campaign Finance Law

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• by: Colorado Pols

Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, an oft-mentioned potential candidate for President in 2016, has been busy dealing with some pretty damning questions relating to a supporter and Virginia's moronic campaign finance laws. From the Washington Post:

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has said his daughter and her husband paid for their own wedding. So a $15,000 check from a major campaign donor to pay for the food at the affair was a gift to the bride and groom and not to him and therefore did not have to be publicly disclosed under the law, the governor says.

But documents obtained by The Washington Post show that McDonnell signed the catering contract, making him financially responsible for the 2011 event. The governor made handwritten notes to the caterer in the margins. In addition, the governor paid nearly $8,000 in deposits for the catering.

Sounds bad, right? Now, here comes the stupid:

…The question of who was responsible for paying the catering bill is a key one because Virginia law requires that elected officials publicly report gifts of more than $50. But the law does not require the disclosure of gifts to the official’s family members. McDonnell has cited the statute in explaining why he did not disclose the payment in annual forms he has filed with the state. [Pols emphasis]

Attention to the wedding gift intensified Tuesday as state Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) called for a review of Virginia’s disclosure laws, saying the General Assembly should examine whether elected officials should be required to report gifts to immediate family members.

There are a lot of campaign finance laws throughout the country, including here in Colorado, that include loopholes large enough for a small vehicle to pass through. But this Virginia law allowing unlimited gifts to family members of elected officials is among the more absurd loopholes we've heard of in a long time. There is absolutely no scenario whereby this makes any logical sense other than as an obvious way around the problem of accepting gifts from lobbyists, corporations, etc.