WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. federal judge has struck down 15 of 19 campaign financing rules, saying they defied logic and fostered corruption.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly concluded Federal Election Commission regulations designed to implement the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law had the opposite effect.
Her decision was signed Saturday, but released Monday, but will probably not change the activities of political organizations in the contest between President George Bush and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger, the Washington Post reported.
Kollar-Kotelly frowned on the FEC for its new definitions of common words. For example, the commission defined the verbs "direct" and "solicit" as meaning "to ask directly." That interpretation meant that federal candidates could be held in violation of the law only if they specifically asked donors for soft money -- but not if they suggested contributions or provided ways for donors to give them.
She also struck down another FEC rule that said candidates' campaigns could not be held responsible for violations by agents who did not have formal authority from them.
