McCAIN AND PAXSON….Prurient innuendo aside, Michael Isikoff points out that there’s a problem with McCain’s claim yesterday that he never did any favors for Paxson Communications:
But that flat claim seems to be contradicted by an impeccable source: McCain himself. “I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue,” McCain said in the Sept. 25, 2002, deposition obtained by Newsweek. “He wanted [FCC] approval very bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate complaint.”
While McCain said “I don’t recall” if he ever directly spoke to the firm’s lobbyist about the issue — an apparent reference to Iseman, though she is not named — “I’m sure I spoke to [Paxson].” McCain agreed that his letters on behalf of Paxson, a campaign contributor, could “possibly be an appearance of corruption” — even though McCain denied doing anything improper.
To be honest, it’s genuinely not clear to me whether this really amounts to anything serious. It sounds more like a political misdemeanor than a felony to me. But he still shouldn’t lie make misleading statements about it.
