High donations pour in through campaign finance loophole

Michael Cooper of The New York Times found gaps in New York's campaign finance laws. "Local parties can still accept unlimited corporate donations to their so-called housekeeping committees, which have few restrictions on how they can spend the money." The Times uncovered a growing number of corporate donors topping the $100,000 mark, well above the $5,000 corporate limit for state campaigns. "Several election lawyers said that sending money directly from housekeeping accounts to individual campaigns appeared to be illegal. But Lee K. Daghlian, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, said the law does not specifically prohibit such transfers, so they are permissible in some cases, as long as they do not violate contribution limits."