Fincher Caught Red Handed ~ Tennessee How Do You like Him Now ?

FACT SHEET—FEC DECISION ON COMPLAINT
AGAINST STEPHEN FINCHER(R) FOR CONGRESS

http://www.fincher.house.gov/office/washington-dc

The FEC General Counsel found that the Fincher Campaign “acknowledges that it failed to properly report the loan….With respect to the terms of the loan, the due date…is incorrectly listed…The Committee also failed to file a Schedule C-1,…disclosing that the loan was derived from a lending institution, and other required information…..Accordingly we recommend that the Commission find reason to believe that Steve Fincher for Congress….violated 2 U.S.C. §434(b)(3)(E),” one of the reporting provisions of the federal campaign finance law. (MUR 6386, First General Counsel’s Report, page 5).

In their Statement of Reasons explaining the FEC’s action, the Democratic Commissioners state that during the Commission’s deliberations:

“All six Commissioner’s voted to find reason to believe that the Fincher Committee violated 2 U.S.C. §434(b)(3)(E)…In this matter, the sole dispute with out colleagues is whether the Fincher Committee’s misreporting of campaign information to the Commission warrants a civil penalty. We and our colleagues agree that the Fincher Committee misreported the source of its campaign funds, resulting in inaccurate public disclosure reports. The Act envisions a penalty in such circumstances….Public disclosure of political spending is at the heart of the commission’s mission….”

MUR 6386, Statement of Reasons of Chair Bauerly and Commissioners Walther and Weintraub,

page 2.

The Commissioner’s statement goes on to explain that “we and our colleagues agree, … that the reporting violation occurred,…” (id, page 2), but that the Republican Commissioners refused to agree to vote for a finding of violation unless the Democratic Commissioners agreed to impose no penalty at all: “”[W]e supported OGC’s [Office of General Counsel] recommendation to seek a civil penalty for this misreporting,.. In an effort to gain consensus, we offered and supported a motion to approve OGC’s recommendations but with a significantly reduced penalty. Our colleagues rejected this motion, ….” (Statement of Reasons, page 3).

The Statement of Reasons thus makes clear that the Republican Commissioners refused to vote for any finding of violation because the Democratic Commissioners would not agree to refrain from imposing a penalty. Thus the final vote was 3-3.

HERRON STATEMENT ON FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
FEC COMMISSIONERS UNANIMOUS THAT FINCHER BROKE FEDERAL LAW

Roy Herron, the 2010 Democratic nominee in the 8th Congressional District, issued the following statement in response to the Federal Election Commission’s unanimous finding that Stephen Fincher violated the law.

“The gospel singer did not tell the gospel truth during the campaign when he repeatedly said the Federal Election Commission had approved of what he’d done. Instead, all six commissioners, including the three Republicans, ruled that he broke federal law. The FEC has now ruled we have a law breaker for a lawmaker.”

**If anybody would like the full Commission’s rulings or the original complaint, please, just let me know and they will be provided to you.

Editorial : Hey Tennessee District#8 Voters. You Voted for him, Satisfied now ? A law Breaker for District#8 Congressional District. You Bet`Cha ! Please Pray for Mr. Fincher.