[shield]

KH was talking with a friend who specializes in FEC reporting just a bit ago. She’s going through Cain’s filings and expecting to see more dirt than she already knows about. Also, she is saying that Romney is behind the Politico story. Cain wasn’t supposed to do this well and harm Mittens.

[justsaynomore]

I don’t even know who “KH” is supposed to be and she is “expecting” to find dirt. What does that mean? Guilty until proven innocent?

[fightinJAG]

You do know how common it is for campaigns to have FEC violations, mostly because of how Byzantine the regulations are and how fluid the whole process is?

Many campaigns even get nailed for various FEC violations and pay fines and so on . . . long after the race is over.

The bottom line is that FEC violations are not automatically the same as "dirt" and "fraud." They are often regulatory omissions, administrative errors, and unwitting violations caused by not realizing a particular situation was covered by FEC rules.

For example: FEC Fines Hillary Clinton's Fundraising Operation for Violating Election Laws, and Hillary Clinton Campaign Acknowledges FEC Violation.

Occasionally a fundraiser commits a crime, such as fraud, but this is not usually imputed to the campaign.

So, hoo boy, FEC violations are not necessarily something to get all wee-weed up about.