COLBUSTED Colbert (Photo: Getty Images)
Ever the publicity hound, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert must understand that no real presidential campaign is complete without a scandal. But does he know that if he succeeds in using his show to help him score a slot on South Carolina ballots as a bona fide 2008 contender, he'll also violate federal campaign law?

An expert with experience in several prominent Republican campaigns says it looks like Colbert's getting a corporate contribution from his Report in the form of air time and production costs—that's prohibited by the Federal Election Commissions Act. "It's something that I could see people raising," said the former strategist. "If I was running against Colbert, I would raise this as a campaign issue."

Viacom, parent company of Comedy Central, has been down this road before with the Showtime reality program The American Candidate, a program about fake presidential candidates in the 2004 elections. In that instance, they got their hotshot Washington attorneys on the case and asked the Federal Election Commission to provide an opinion as to whether or not the show fell under the Federal Election Commissions Act. The FEC said the show was good to go, but with strong reminders that corporations cannot make "any contribution or expenditure in connection with a federal election" and that "any cost incurred in covering or carrying a news story, commentary or editorial by any broadcast station (including a cable television operator, programmer, or producer), newspaper magazine, or other periodical publication, is not a contribution unless the facility is owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate."

Jon Stewart's Busboy Productions owns The Colbert Report, but clearly Stephen runs the show. In other words, he's toast.

While a possible violation of a sketchy law by a maybe-real, book-promoting faux pundit isn't the sort of thing Bob Woodward would tackle, it does give fodder to those who fear Colbert might be this election's Ralph Nader.

A Comedy Central spokesperson declined comment.