California GOP files FEC complaint over Obama's visit to grandmother John Byrne

Published: Monday November 3, 2008





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In what the Washington Post called "perhaps the most ill-timed press release of the 2008 campaign," the California Republican Party announced that they'd filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Sen. Barack Obama had illegally funneled funds from his campaign account for his personal use.



The use? Visiting his dying grandmother, whose passing was announced this afternoon.



The GOP sent the release at 1:30 pm ET, a few hours before Obama's grandmother's death was announced.



"Obama for America violated federal law by converting its campaign funds to Senator Obama's personal use," the release stated. "Senator Obama recently traveled to Hawaii to visit his sick grandmother. This was the right thing for any grandson to do -- at his own expense -- but it was not travel that his campaign may fund."



Federal law prohibits campaigns from using campaign funds for personal travel. Obama's campaign said beforehand that they had reviewed the trips with their lawyers and believed it was allowable. Republicans, meanwhile, contend that because Obama did not campaign in Hawaii, it should not have been budgeted as a campaign expense.



Obama announced Monday that the grandmother who brought him up had died, aged 86. He flew to Hawaii to visit Madelyn Dunham's side in Hawaii two weeks ago, fearing she would not live to see what polls suggest may be his triumph.



"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer," Obama said in a joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng.



"She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility," he continued. "She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances."



"She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring," he added. "Our debt to her is beyond measure."







