Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and electronic absorption spectroscopies have been used to probe the electronic structure of the classical paramagnetic metal鈥搈etal-bonded complexes [Re2X4(PMe3)4]+ (X = Cl, Br). A violation of the MCD sum rule is observed that indicates the presence of ground-state contributions to the MCD intensity. The z-polarized 未 鈫?未* band in the near-IR is formally forbidden in MCD but gains intensity through a combination of ground- and excited-state mechanisms to yield a positive C term.