For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 26, 2004
Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Las Cruces, New Mexico
8:22 A.M. MDT
MR. McCLELLAN: Good morning. The President had his briefing on
board the airplane. He just participated in an interview with USA
Today.
And we are headed to Las Cruces and Farmington and Albuquerque,
where he'll have rallies today, talking about -- continuing to focus on
his agenda for moving America forward and building a safer world and
more hopeful America, as we head to the -- he'll continue to focus more
on his agenda as we head into the convention. And with that, I'm here
for questions.
Q Scott, the U.S. Olympic Committee has asked that the campaign
pull the victory ad, because it mentions the Olympics, and they have
copyright to those things. Any remarks --
MR. McCLELLAN: The campaign has already addressed that issue, and
I'll leave it with the campaign, since it's relating to campaign ads.
Q They just asked yesterday, again, after reviewing it --
MR. McCLELLAN: I know. The campaign has addressed the issue.
Q McCain says he's fed up with these Swift Boat ads. Is the
President willing to go any further than what he said the other day?
MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, thank you for bringing that up. The
President, also, on board Air Force One, called Senator McCain this
morning. And the President said he wanted to work together to pursue
court action to shut down all the ads and activity by these shadowy 527
groups. And the President said if the court action doesn't work, then
he would be willing to pursue legislative action and work with Senator
McCain on that.
Q Which groups does he want to shut down?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's all the unregulated soft money activity by
these 527 groups. The President thought we got rid of all of this kind
of shadowy activity when he signed the campaign finance reforms into
law. As you're aware, there was FEC action that has been pursued by
Senator McCain, that has been pursued by us, as well. And the FEC has
not acted on it. And so the President reached out to Senator McCain to
say, let's work together and pursue court action to shut down all of
this activity by these shadowy groups.
Q That includes the Swift Boats --
Q -- specific condemnation of the Swift Boat.
Q -- Swift Boat ones. He said, he's happy that -- he condemns
all 527s --
MR. McCLELLAN: The President condemns all the ads and activity by
these shadowy groups. This is unregulated soft money activity that the
President thought we got rid of when he signed the campaign finance
reforms into law. Senator McCain said that he thought it was a good
idea for the two of them to work together to shut down this kind of
activity.
Q So this includes the Swift Boat, right? You want to shut
down -- Bush wants to shut down, through legal action --
MR. McCLELLAN: All, all the ads and activity by the shadowy
groups. That would include everything that these shadowy groups are
involved in.
Q You don't want to say "Swift Boat," is that the --
MR. McCLELLAN: I think I answered it by saying, all of the ads and
activity.
Q And that would include the Swift Boat, yes?
MR. McCLELLAN: That includes everything. That includes -- I don't
know how I can be more clear than that, Adam.
Q Are the Swift Boats a shadowy group?
Q But McCain said beyond that -- he called the President to
condemn those specific ads. Will he condemn those --
MR. McCLELLAN: The President has condemned every ad and all the
activity by these 527 groups.
Q How does he feel about what they're saying?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think I can be more clear, nor can the
President. The President wants Senator Kerry to join us in calling for
a stop to all of the ads and activity by these shadowy groups. The
President has condemned all of this activity by these shadowy groups.
Q What does he mean by court action?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, pursue -- pursuing court action, working with
-- and pursuing court action to shut down these -- shut down this
activity by these 527 groups that are funded with unregulated soft
money. This is what we thought we got rid of when the President signed
the campaign finance reforms into law. And so --
Q So who files -- who files the lawsuit, then?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, and I'll try to get you a little bit more
information on this, but there's -- there have been previous complaints
filed against the FEC. The FEC had an opportunity to act with, I think
it's within a 100-day -- 120-day period. They did not act. And so
that allows those who had filed those complaints to pursue action
against the FEC. I know Senator McCain had filed complaints with the
FEC; we had, as well. And so the President looks forward to working
with Senator McCain to pursue court action to shut down all of this
activity by these shadowy groups.
Q So is the Justice Department going to get involved in this?
Q He would be the one who be going to the --
MR. McCLELLAN: He called them this morning, and we'll provide you
more detail as we move forward and work together, through court action,
to shut these groups down.
Q So you are asking Justice to get involved, then?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, we'll get you more details as we move
forward together. But we want to pursue court action.
Q How long was the phone call?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?
Q How long was the phone call?
MR. McCLELLAN: I will try to get you the length. It was brief.
And Senator McCain said he looked forward to seeing him soon. We
certainly appreciate Senator McCain's strong support for the President,
and look forward to hearing his remarks next week at the convention, as
well.
Q -- the charge --
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.
Q Can you tell me what the legal basis would be for taking
court action?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, yes, that's why I said, if you go back, you
might want to look at some of this. I'll try and get you more details
on the ground. But because of the complaints -- the complaints have
been pursued with the FEC, and there's a window of opportunity for the
FEC to pursue action. They failed to pursue that action then. You can
pursue court action following that if they don't act within that time
period.
Q Okay.
MR. McCLELLAN: Okay, thank you.
Q Is it a lawsuit?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. Yes, it would be.
Q But none of it would happen until after the election,
correct? I mean, the FEC --
MR. McCLELLAN: There would be a lawsuit.
Q But the FEC can't act on this stuff until after the
election.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, there have been complaints previously filed
with the FEC that they did not act on to shut -- to shut down this
activity.
We've got to land. Thank you.
* * * * *
MR. McCLELLAN: We would be asking the court to force the FEC to
shut down this activity.
Q Force the FEC?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. It would be asking the courts to -- yes,
since the FEC failed to act, we would now be asking the courts to force
the FEC to act to shut down these -- shut down all this activity.
Q It's not directly -- so the case is not directly against the
527s, it's against the FEC.
MR. McCLELLAN: It's going to the courts to ask them to force the
FEC to shut down all this activity.
END 8:30 A.M. MDT
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