Thompson Spreads the Wealth

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Former senator Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., has been out office for more than four years now, but he chose this past weekend to close the political action committee he’s had open since his days in the Senate. Might he have another office in mind?

Thompson filed his "termination report" with the Federal Election Commission on Saturday, formally shutting down the Fred D. Thompson PAC.

He’d barely been using the account anyway, and he was prohibited from using money raised for the PAC for his presidential bid. It just might be an attempt by Thompson to clean up his books before he announces a presidential run — advisers have indicated that he could jump in the race as early as next month.

In his final round of disbursements, Tennessee-based charities were the big winners, but Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, got $1,000, potentially buying Thompson a chit in a crucial presidential state. Sen. Lamar Alaxender, R-Tenn., who holds Thompson’s old Senate seat, got $4,000, and the PAC paid $2,000 to Daniel Thompson Associates, the consulting firm run by Fred Thompson’s son.