REAL OR FAKE, ‘CAMPAIGN’ MAY BE ILLEGAL

Less than 72 hours after South Carolina’s “favorite son” Stephen Colbert announced — however jokingly — that he would seek the nation’s highest office, The Politico reported that his “campaign” may run him afoul of the Federal Election Committee.

If he continues moving toward a presidential campaign, particularly if he, or Comedy Central, keeps spending money exploring and promoting by hyping it on his nightly half-hour news parody show, he could get himself and his network in trouble for violating election laws, including those barring corporate campaign contributions.

“You don’t get a different set of rules because you’re running as a joke,” said Marc Elias, a leading Washington election lawyer who represents Democratic candidates.

“You may get a different set of rules because it’s a joke and you’re not really running,” said Elias, who stressed he was not speaking for any client. “But if it isn’t a joke, then there may be any number of issues.”

With Colbert, it’s tough to tell, since his whole shtick is faux-serious. …

His best defense, though, according to an election lawyer who requested anonymity because he did not want to risk incurring Colbert’s wrath, would be admitting that his “campaign” is for entertainment only and that he’s not spending money to influence an election — the trigger for federal campaign laws.

If he fesses up to that, the lawyer said, he could argue that any effort to limit his spending on his candidacy would violate “his rights of expression as a satirist.” [KENNETH P. VOGEL - The Politico]

On Wednesday night’s Colbert Report, Colbert filled out both the Republican and Democrat forms to get on the ballot as a candidate in South Carolina — but not before crossing out the sections pledging not to ““knowingly violate any election law.”