On the Campaign Trail

I was disappointed to see staff writer Matthew Mosk paint with such a broad brush to tar the Campaign Legal Center in his June 26 article, "Top McCain Adviser Has Found Success Mixing Money, Politics." The story insinuated that the McCain campaign's general counsel, Trevor Potter, had used his ties to the candidate to enrich himself through his work as the organization's founder and president because it had defended the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as the McCain-Feingold law, in court.

The legislation was the broadest campaign finance reform since the Watergate era. Defending it in court was not a get-rich-quick scheme for Potter or any of the others on the team of lawyers committed to such reforms.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has had no involvement with the formation of the Campaign Legal Center, its funding or its policies. To lump it in as a "McCain-affiliated endeavor" is misleading. Potter founded the center in 2002. The decision to form it and defend McCain-Feingold in the courts was a direct result of Potter's experience and expertise on campaign finance matters and not a result of any connections with or assistance from McCain. We would have defended the constitutionality of McCain-Feingold regardless of who sponsored the legislation.

Potter took a leave of absence from our organization early this year as a result of his role in the campaign of the presumptive Republican nominee. None of the other employees at the Campaign Legal Center has any ties to McCain or his campaign.

-- J. Gerald Hebert

Washington

The writer is executive director and director of litigation at the Campaign Legal Center.

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