John McCain, a former campaign finance champion, is trying to weasel out of the public financing system he helped develop.

McCain opted into the public financing program during the primary, which gave his campaign a much-needed infusion of cash–$5.8 million. In addition, opting into the system gave McCain numerous other benefits such as ballot access, which would normally cost $2-$3 million dollars.

When he was struggling in the polls, McCain used public financing as the collateral for a loan to his campaign. Since he spent the loan–which, again, he got because he put public funds on the line–he should be locked into the system. It’s a complex issue, but it’s clear that McCain capitalized off of public financing to obtain a loan, which ties him intricately into the public system.

In addition, the public financing campaign limits a candidate’s expenditures to $54 million until their party’s convention in the summer. McCain has come extremely close to violating that limit– according to the FEC, McCain has already raised $53,137,551, which puts him dangerously close to the limit.

Getting out of the system, though, isn’t easy. McCain can’t tell the FEC he’s opting out of the system–he can only ask. And McCain can’t get an answer right now because the FEC doesn’t have a quoroum of commissioners, so they can’t conduct any business. There is no quorum because–as I wrote about–the GOP is playing politics with FEC appointments, mucking up the system to stymie Democrats.

Ironically enough, Roadblock Republican shenanigans might end up hamstringing the GOP nominee–if McCain can’t get cleared to withdraw from public financing, and acts as if he’s withdrawn from the system, then he’ll be breaking the law by going over the $54 million limit. As TPM reports,

It is a serious issue. As the Post reports, “Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison.”

McCain’s political image is based on being a campaign finance reformer. If he knowingly violates campaign finance laws and gets slapped with a legal penalty for it, then this will seriously hurt his bid for the White House. Considering McCain’s recent troubles with corruption and scandal, the last thing he needs is getting slapped with a penalty for violating campaign laws.

The AP has more on this scandal.

And now, the DNC is filing an FEC complaint against the McCain campaign for their violation. The key quote from Howard Dean:

“The crucial issue here is John McCain’s integrity. John McCain poses as a reformer but he seems to think reforms apply to everyone else but him… His latest attempt to ignore the law is just more of his do as I say, not as I do hypocrisy and it calls his credibility into question. McCain financially benefited by accepting this agreement; he got free ballot access, saving him millions of dollars, and he secured a $4 million loan to keep his campaign afloat by using public financing as collateral. He should be held to the law.”

The hits just keep coming for the McCain campaign.