Another sordid case of campaign fund misuse? Sen. Mark Kirk says no.

To establish that no wrongdoing occurred, the Kirk campaign will need to show that McCracken provided legitimate work in return for the payment, says a prominent attorney in Washington who specializes in election law, but who declined to speak for attribution because he knows some of the people involved in the FEC complaint.

“If the only revelation is [McCracken] was a partner in that firm that benefited from the distribution of those funds, it won’t matter, as long as the firm provided that much value to that campaign," the source says in a phone interview. "If they didn’t provide value to the campaign, [the complaint] will be relevant." 

FEC rules permit campaigns to make payments to a candidate's relatives or personal acquaintances. However, the candidate must prove that those individuals provided services of equal value.

The Tribune report said Kirk’s campaign also directed $40,000 to Athens & Sparta Counsel LLC, a corporate entity Vertolli says she created out of her home in Alexandria, Va., soon after joining his campaign in late 2010. She says the money was meant to keep her quiet after she criticized McCracken's role in the Kirk campaign during a Chicago Magazine interview published in August 2010.

“There wasn’t enough room for the two of us to stay in Mark’s life,” the magazine quotes Vertolli as saying. She also described McCracken as a “very pernicious force on his team who is wielding a disproportionate amount of negative influence on him.”

If it is proved that the Kirk campaign is the source of the $40,000, Kirk will need to establish that the money was for the purpose of influencing the election and not for personal use, the Washington source says.

Elk told the Tribune that Vertolli’s role in the campaign was “to assist with legal research projects, including reviewing FEC reports, opposition research and monitoring campaign developments for legal issues.”

The charges of diverting campaign funds for personal use are somewhat akin to those facing John Edwards, the 2008 presidential candidate from North Carolina who is currently on trial for alleged violations of federal campaign finance laws. Mr. Edwards argues that the nearly $1 million paid to a mistress by two wealthy patrons were personal gifts, not political contributions, and so not subject to federal election law.  

Kirk has not made any public appearances since January, when he was diagnosed as having suffered a stroke. He is no longer involved in a relationship with McCracken. His website shows him in rehabilitation, but it's not known when he will return to work in the Senate. 

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