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The Democratic National Committee announced that it intends to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to try to compel the Federal Election Commission to examine whether John McCain broke election laws when his campaign rejected public fundraising, the Associated Press reports.

When McCain turned down a taxpayer-funded $5.8 million, his campaign was able to skirt spending limits that would have been in place until the Republican Party convention.

The issue in question is a $4 million line of credit obtained by the McCain campaign last year, which the DNC has argued was a violation of federal regulations. The McCain campaign and its bankers have denied that claim.

The lawsuit is a follow-up to a complaint the DNC filed with the FEC in February, which was not acted upon, since four FEC nominees were waiting Senate confirmation and the body lacked a quorum.

*Update: Later on Tuesday, RNC chief counsel Sean Cairncross called the lawsuit "meritless," the AP reports. Cairncross said that McCain was entitled to withdraw from the public finance system because he didn't take public funds during the primary season.

The deadline for presidential campaigns to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission concerning their January fundraising is midnight tonight, but John McCain has already gotten his filing out of the way.

McCain revealed late yesterday that he raised $12,754,529 from January 1st through January 31st, 2008, a figure that includes a $950,000 loan to himself. It marks McCain's best fundraising month yet.

The Republican frontrunner has about $5.2 million cash on hand, and just over $5.5 million in debts. He has raised $54,848,607 since Jan 1st, 2007, including loans of $3,921,697.

Meanwhile, CBS News has learned that Barack Obama will report that he has raised approximately $36 million in January, while Hillary Clinton will report that she raised approximately $13.5 million.

With the Republican nomination now all but his, John McCain is opting out of the public financing program that – back when his campaign was running on fumes – seemed to be the only way for him to maintain any sort of viability.

According to the Associated Press, McCain informed the Federal Election Commission and the Treasury Department that he was withdrawing from the public financing system, which would have infused his campaign with $5.8 million in matching funds but also required him to abide by spending restrictions that would likely prove fatal in a general election against either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Both Democrats long ago said they would forgo the public financing system.

McCain raised just shy of $10 million in the last quarter of 2007, but actually had more debt than cash on hand. However, the campaign reported raising $7 million in the first three weeks of January – a pace that has almost certainly accelerated now that the Arizona senator is his party's presumed nominee. Now, McCain will be able to spend that money however, and wherever, he wants.

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In his famous 2004 speech to the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama decried the "politics of anything goes." But, as he seeks the presidency, that's exactly what he and other White House hopefuls may have to deal with, since the Federal Election Commission, charged with monitoring the presidential race, has effectively shut down.

Thanks to a standoff between President Bush and the Democratic Congress, the FEC is unable to form a quorum, and thus unable to conduct any official business. Four of the six spots on the commission are vacant – two short of the number required to do anything substantial.

In a press release announcing a Jan. 24 meeting, the commission says its rules "have been modified to permit meetings when the Commission has fewer than four Members, in order to discuss any matter normally considered in open session while taking action only on certain administrative matters including, for example, public information and outreach."

That leaves nearly all of the commission's other duties off the table, including enforcement of the country's election laws – meaning actions by any campaigns in violation of FEC regulations would go unpunished until the stalemate ends. According to the Washington Post, the body has been reduced to merely giving advice, which isn't necessarily legally binding.