Republican Senator David Vitter is asking permission from the Federal Elections Commission to use more than $100,000 from his campaign contributions to pay off legal bills he incurred during the DC Madam scandal and observers say he will likely get it.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group who filed an ethics violation against Vitter for his involvement in the scandal, said the request is not out of the ordinary, nor likely to be denied.

“It is not unusual for Senator Vitter to ask the FEC if he can use his contributions to pay his legal costs rather than pay out of his own pocket,” said Melanie Sloan of CREW. “I may not like it, but that’s just the way the law is.”

Political Analyst Clancy DuBos said Vitter has already paid $70,000 in legal fees out of his own pocket.

“Politicians like to use other people’s money whenever they can,” he said.

DuBos said Vitter could have put in the request right before a holiday weekend in hopes that people may not be home to watch the news, but DuBos is surprised by the request anyway.

“I’m a little surprised because it would seem that the last thing that David Vitter would want is to dredge this story and give it more airtime.”

Eyewitness News made phone calls to Vitter, but they were not returned.