For the second week in a row, Federal Election Commission Chairman Donald F. McGahn II has intervened to lighten a potential penalty against a Democratic organization for allegedly violating campaign finance laws. Last week, McGahn, who happens to be a Republican, stepped in to question an audit finding against former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards’ 2004 campaign. As a result, the FEC penalty against Edwards involving violations of contribution limits was lowered from $681,000 to $173,000.

Today, McGahn raised concerns about an FEC audit recommending that the Missouri Democratic State Commission be penalized for failing to provide receipts for more than $700,000 in expenditures made during the 2004 election cycle. McGahn’s objection, centering on whether the expenditures were even related to federal elections, forced the six-member panel to postpone a vote on the matter until the audit report on the Missouri committee can be revised to address McGahn’s concerns.

McGahn’s objection, which raised questions about whether any specific receipt disclosure requirements had actually been violated, forced the six-member panel to postpone a vote on how much the state committee may ultimately have to pay. In the meantime, the audit report on the Missouri committee will be revised to address McGahn’s concerns.

“I don’t think that we need to create a presumption or inference that if you don’t have documents, that it’s a get out of jail free card,” McGahn said at the commission hearing. “But on the other hand, when we rely solely on an inference that the absence of documentation means that you broke federal law, I think that goes too far as well.”

First posted Nov. 20, 2008 4:13 p.m.