The Federal Election Commission has now ruled in favor of John McCain, finding that he did not violate the law when he opted out of the public-finance system during the primaries.
At issue is the fact that McCain obtained a $3 million bank loan in 2007, when his campaign was in serious trouble, which would have potentially been paid back using federal funds had he failed to win the primaries. He instead went on to win the Republican nomination, raised money the old-fashioned way, and never actually collected federal cash until the general election.
The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint over the deal. But the FEC decided that McCain “permissibly withdrew from the matching payment program and thus was released from his obligations,” and that there was no reason to believe a violation occurred.