Novak: Does The Clinton Campaign's Debt To Mark Penn Constitute An Illegal Financial Contribution?



(image via theatlantic)

Once more with gusto, our favorite Dickensian villain, Robert Novak asks: Does the Clinton campaign's debt to Mark Penn constitute an illegal financial contribution? From "Rovak":

"Penn's business conglomerate remains entwined in Clinton's campaign. Three weeks ago, the campaign hired as chief operating officer Howard Paster, who heads the London-based global advertising giant WPP. Penn is CEO of the public-relations and lobbying company Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, which is owned by WPP. Penn and Paster won the devotion of the Clintons by running Bill Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign.

"Beyond loyalty, Penn is welded to the 2008 Clinton campaign by financial ties. A source who has had close connections with Penn got word to me that he believes the Clinton campaign is $10 million in debt to Penn, Schoen & Berland, which is owned by Burson-Marsteller. The campaign's March report to the Federal Election Commission recorded indebtedness to the company of nearly $2.5 million (with its expenses for the month listed at $3.1 million).

"My sources suggest that Clinton's full indebtedness may be disclosed only gradually. The money link helps explain why Penn is still around after organized labor demanded his scalp last summer, and he's blamed inside the campaign for failing to perceive the public's demand for 'change.'

"Just how much money Clinton owes Penn can cause major difficulties in the future. If not repaid promptly, would it constitute an illegal financial contribution? Because the British WPP owns Burson-Marsteller, would that debt constitute an illegal foreign contribution?"

Good, laser-like questions. But -- a propos of nothing -- Wouldn't Robert Novak make the perfect Dickensian villain? Think of the full bodied lips, those impeccably tailored three-piece suits, that single-minded devotion to a capital gains tax cut, and, finally, the beady eyes that conjure forth forbidding images of ... (sotto voce) "Ebeneezer (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment)." The full column here.