So the rest of the story of how the FEC charges against O’Donnell got dropped finally comes out. And she is saved from having to account for her mismanagement of campaign funds by the Republican commissioners on the FEC. Even though they specifically voted against the recommendation of the FEC general counsel:
The Republican members’ decision went against the recommendations of the general counsel for the FEC, who found there was reason to believe that O’Donnell accepted excessive in-kind contributions in the form of coordinated expenditures from TeaPartyExpress.org.
The FEC’s General Counsel said there was enough evidence for a probe to move forward, citing a Facebook posting by Evan Quietsch, the press secretary for O’Donnell’s committee, which indicated he spoke with Tea Party Express daily.
The three Democratic commissioners provided detail on why they thought the Friends of Christine O’Donnell committee’s behavior ought to be investigated further (pdf), and that still surrounds the behavior of one Evan Quietsch acting on behalf of the campaign:
In this case, the complaint included information that supported finding reason to believe that O’Donnell or members of her campaign staff may have coordinated expenditures with TPAC. The Respondents have failed to provide information sufficient to rebut the complaint. The Commission should therefore take the next step and complete a limited investigation into whether O’Donnell, the Committee, and TPAC coordinated expenditures. If the investigation did not establish probable cause, the Commission would close the matter.
The complaint alleged and included a video showing that O’Donnell appeared at apparent TPAC events on September 1,2010 and September 7,2010. The complaint also alleges that O’Donnell participated in TPAC’s “Radiothon for Christine O’Donnell” on September 9,2010. According to foe Facebook page for the event, which was included in the complaint, the event was “a special broadcast by the Tea Party Express to raise money and awareness for the conservative candidate for US senate Christine O’Donnell.” The radiothon was aired on WDEL 1150 AM, as well as on the Internet at WDEL.com. The complaint also includes two statements made by Evan Quietsch, the Committee’s press secretary, on his Facebook page on September 2, 2010 regarding the radiothon. The first post, made at 11:51am, stated: “Tea Party Express Radiothon on #wdel@ 7PM Thurs Sept. 9th #delaware #netde ur calls and guests discuss #desen race #tpp #tpx listen online www.wdel.com.” Quietech’s second post, made about three hours
later, was apparentiy directed to a staff member of the radio station and stated: “@Jensenl 150WDEL let me know if you want to know about the Tea Party Express as I speak
w/them daily” (emphasis added).
[…]
Respondents’ counsel acknowledged O’Donnell’s appearance at the press conference on September 7,2010, but generally denied any other appearances at TPAC events or communication between TPAC and O’Donnell or Committee staff. This statement, however, is contradicted by both Quietsch’s statement and the video of O’Donnell’s appearance at an apparent second TPAC event on September 1. Furthermore, the letter from Respondents’ counsel did not specifically address O’Donnell’s possible participation in the radiothon or the coordination allegations regarding for the specific event.
[…]
Here, the campaign press secretary represented to a radio station employee that he spoke daily with the third party paying for a supposedly independent communication on that radio station,” they wrote. “If that is not enough information to begin an investigation into coordination, it is unclear what would be enough.
Indeed. When your campaign staff takes to Facebook and Twitter to announce his coordination with other parties, this is something to look at. But accountability or even honor isn’t exactly a Republican trait these days. The rule of law doesn’t apply to those who are bleating the most about *other people’s* relationship to the rule of law. O”Donnell dodged a bullet here and she dodged one because the members of her tribe decided to close ranks rather than try to flush out the misbehavior. Which means that there will be more of this from her and the teajadi crew. Because they just got told that they’re going to be allowed to get away with murder.