Earlier today, we asked whether formally ‘suspending’ his campaign might still allow Herman Cain to get matching funds for his campaign. Our reporter on the campaign finance beat, Ryan Reilly, got hold of campaign finance law expert Joseph M. Birkenstock.
Here’s his answer:
“Obviously you can only get matching funds to actively run the campaign… The question isn’t only whether you can get them, but whether you can use them. You can only spend the matching funds on a qualified campaign expense. If you’re not actively campaigning, the only thing that would be a qualifying expense is a winding down expense… So the cost involved in laying people off and shutting down offices. Having enough facts to support the conclusion that what you’re doing counts as a qualified expense can be pretty tricky.”
