Huffington Post: 2016 Candidates Thumb Their Noses At Campaign Finance Rules

“That is a complete legal fiction,” said Trevor Potter, head of Caplin & Drysdale’s election law practice and lawyer to both Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and comedian Stephen Colbert. “They are trying to have it both ways, and in my view, in most cases, already violating the law as a result,” Potter said. ...

This kind of false non-candidacy is not a problem originating with the Citizens United decision, although the ruling's boost to super PACs makes delaying candidacy more appealing. It is instead a problem of non-enforcement of existing laws, according to Potter. And hopes for a remedy are dim.

Potter and the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group he founded, contend that federal law clearly states that any candidate testing the waters or exploring a presidential run must remain within the bounds of the campaign contribution limits. But as with so many other aspects of electoral law, the Federal Election Commission has failed to give that requirement any teeth.

“As long as the FEC is unable to enforce the law, I see nothing to make it any better,” Potter said. “But that’s not a legal issue. That’s a question of an agency that isn’t doing its job. That could be changed, but it hasn’t been changed.” ...

To read the full story at the Huffington Post, click here.