Democrats' complaint against Idaho Sen. Risch dismissed

The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint made against Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, by the Idaho Democratic Party raising questions about violations of federal election law during the 2008 campaign.

Last September, as Risch faced former Democratic Rep. Larry LaRocco, Democrats questioned whether Risch's campaign was improperly using his Boise law office. Their complaint questioned whether expenses such as rent, overhead and staff salaries were properly reported to the FEC.

But the FEC said it dismissed the matter "in light of the complainants' failure to include any substantiation for their allegations in the complaint."

The bipartisan commission voted 6-0 in June to dismiss the complaint. Notice of the dismissal was released by the FEC Wednesday.

Asked about the dismissal Thursday, Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Hansen said, "We gave them sufficient information to investigate. The trouble is they didn't investigate because, I assume, they're fairly short-staffed."

Said Risch: "This comes as no surprise. These were phony claims and the Office of General Counsel indicated as much when it found the proper reports had been filed before the complaint was even brought up."

Three attorneys in the FEC general counsel's office recommended dropping the Democrats' complaint against Risch's campaign committee, writing:

"The complainants in this case failed to include any substantiation for their allegations against the Committee in their complaint. Rather, the complainants merely made inferences based on the candidate's association with his law firm. Thus, given the speculative nature of the complaint, and in furtherance of the Commission's priorities and resources, relative to other matters pending on the Enforcement docket, the Office of General Counsel believes that the Commission should exercise its prosecutorial discretion and dismiss the matter."

Hansen said Idaho Democrats aren't considering appealing the FEC's dismissal. "We don't have the resources to appeal the decision, and they know that."

To read documents in the case, go to http://eqs.nictusa.com/eqs/searcheqs and put 6086 in the case number box.

Dan Popkey: 377-6438