Political Quotes

“I expressed concern, Senator Thompson, that the standard was being set extraordinarily high in order to address any campaign abuses because of the "illegal" language that is used. Do I understand that when I was absent from the room for a moment, in answer to Senator Ford's question, you have equated "illegal" with "criminal" and that in your mind they are relatively indistinguishable as the standard you are going to use in deciding which campaign activities are within our jurisdiction? ... Senator Ford. Understand that. And we are used to that. But am I correct that violations of Federal campaign laws are not criminal? Senator Thompson. Senator, I would rather not try to give you a legal opinion off the top of my head. Then the colloquy went on, in which Senator Thompson further said: Well, my idea, campaign finance reform does not have much to do with the statutory regulatory framework that you are referring to. So at that point it seems to me that Senator Thompson was not definitive on this issue.”