FEC Issues Advisory Opinions

WASHINGTON –At its regular open meeting today the Federal Election Commission approved two advisory opinions.

In Advisory Opinion 2006-35, the Commission informed the Kolbe for Congress Committee that it could use campaign funds to pay for certain legal expenses incurred by then-Representative Kolbe in connection with a recently completed inquiry by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (House Ethics Committee), an inquiry by the Department of Justice, and press questions related to these inquiries.  The Commission found that because the events and actions subject to the inquiries were undertaken as part of Representative Kolbe’s duties as a member of Congress, these legal expenses are a permissible use of campaign funds under the Federal Election Campaign Act.

In Advisory Opinion 2006-37, the Commission advised Barry Kissin and the Kissin for Congress Committee that the candidate could be repaid by the committee for loans made by the candidate during the campaign.  The candidate and committee provided affidavits stating that the deposits of personal funds by the candidate were intended to be loans, which would be repaid after the campaign if sufficient funds were available.  It is therefore permissible to make repayments to the candidate even though the deposits were not originally identified as loans.