The Federal Elections Commission yesterday ruled that there was no reason to look further into allegations that former Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS) used Gov. Haley Barbour’s (R-MS) PAC to funnel campaign contributions to Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) in order to avoid bad publicity.
Pickering, of course, last made national news when his wife sued his long-time mistress for alienation of affection in Mississippi; Vitter’s reported extramarital assignations with prostitutes are well-documented.
Louisiana Democrats had charged that Pickering gave to Barbour’s PAC in order to camouflage his donations to Vitter — an inappropriate use of a PAC donation. Barbour and Pickering pointed out that there was no evidence of collusion, and the FEC agreed that, given that the donations were not in excess and were properly disclosed, there was no violation of FEC law by Vitter, Barbour or Pickering.
