Loophole Lets Candidates Skirt Donation Limit

Those who did so by writing $4,200 and $4,600 checks include mail catalogue mogul Lillian Vernon, movie producer Judith Zarin and New York banker Jeffrey Volk, FEC records show.

In addition, Clinton transferred $10 million in unspent donations from her 2006 Senate reelection campaign to her presidential bid. Donors who gave to her Senate campaign before Nov. 7 can legally donate again, creating what fundraising insiders call a "double-dipping" opportunity.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr., an investment banker whose father advised former president Bill Clinton, gave $1,000 to Clinton's 2006 Senate campaign on Oct. 27, when her reelection was all but assured, adding to the lump sum she transferred to start her presidential campaign a couple of months later.

This spring, Jordan gave the maximum $4,600 to her presidential campaign. He's still free to donate another $4,200 to her 2012 Senate fund.

"Our staunchest supporters are staunch, and we're grateful for that," Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said.

Clinton has not actively sought Senate donations since she formally filed her presidential candidate papers in late January, although she will continue accepting checks that arrive unsolicited, aides said. The campaign also makes sure no Senate money collected since last November's election gets used for her presidential bid, the aides added.

Still, records show that Clinton's Senate committee has spent money since January on some of the same people and companies that are involved in her presidential campaign.

For instance, communications aide Nina Blackwell has simultaneously collected a salary from both Clinton's Senate and presidential campaigns, FEC records show. Unpaid presidential adviser Ann Lewis had a small amount of travel expenses paid for by the Senate campaign. And both campaigns paid the travel vendor Aircraft Services Group large sums of money.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whose name graces the 2002 campaign reform bill that placed strict limits on donation sizes, has kept open his Straight Talk Express political action committee as he runs for president, collecting more than $100,000 since last November's election.

Like Clinton contributors, many givers to McCain's PAC this year have also maxed out contributions to his presidential campaign. San Francisco equity fund executive J. Gary Shansby gave $5,000 to McCain's Straight Talk in March on top of his $4,600 to McCain's presidential bid.

"John's supporters are passionate about him and his experience, and they are looking for any way they can legally support him, and they and I try to do so," Shansby said.

Richardson has already collected more than $600,000 through his state gubernatorial committee since December, including money from corporations legally forbidden from donating at the federal level.

Among the companies to support Richardson's gubernatorial fund since the presidential race started are Hewlett-Packard ($10,000) and utility company PNMR Services ($25,000), according to Richardson's latest campaign report.

Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) has kept open his One America political action committee, collecting more than $73,000 through that group since the election. Two of those donations recently caught the eye of campaign watchdogs because they came through the arm of One America that is exempt from federal donation size limits.

Houston trial attorney Richard Warren Mithoff gave $10,000 to Edwards's political group in January plus $4,600 to the presidential campaign in March, while New York businessman Leo Hindery gave $15,000 to Edwards's political group in June.

"Those are amounts way above the federal hard-dollar contribution limits and, while they are going to nonfederal accounts, more than likely they benefit this presidential candidate," said Cooper, the former FEC official.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) raised $190,000 in late November and December for his political action committee, collecting money from many, including hotel executive Richard Marriott, who donated to his presidential campaign again after the first of the year.

In addition to Clinton and McCain, eight other sitting members of Congress are running for president, and most are simultaneously raising money for their congressional campaign committees.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) has raised the most: $77,000 for his Senate bid in the early part of this year, plus $400,000 late last year for his PAC.