Wash. Post reporter baselessly suggested Edwards broke campaign finance law

[NNN0LHI]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200701230004

In a January 23 online discussion, Washington Post reporter John Solomon defended his controversial article about Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' recent sale of his house by suggesting -- without offering any evidence -- that the sale violated "federal campaign law" disclosure requirements.

Solomon explicitly stated in his response that the disclosure requirement "is encoded in federal campaign law" but offered no evidence to support that contention. Indeed, that argument is absent entirely from the January 19 article. And Solomon himself seemed to contradict his own allegations with his next answer, in which he said, "A frontpage story doesn't have to always find wrongdoing or lead to prosecutions."

Further, in suggesting that Edwards broke disclosure laws, Solomon apparently misstated that law. Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Reports -- which must be filed by presidential candidates, and to which Solomon is apparently referring -- do contain a section for "transactions." But that section -- Schedule B, Part 1 -- specifically instructs candidates not to report the sale of a personal residence. The instructions read: "Do not report a transaction involving property used solely as your personal residence." In fact, presidential candidates -- as opposed to current officeholders -- are exempted from filling out Schedule B altogether. The top of Schedule B reads: "Do not complete Schedule B if you are a new entrant, nominee, or Vice Presidential or Presidential candidate." See, for example, Howard Dean's 2003 filing and President Bush's 2006 filing.

From the January 23 online discussion:

[AspenRose]

1. Senator Edwards, it's now your turn

to face the baseless, shameless GOP slime machine.

Congratulations: They must see you as a real threat.