FEC Lawyers: GOP "Super-Duper" PAC Is Illegal

[deminks]

Not so fast, James Bopp. In a rebuke to the influential conservative lawyer and Republican National Committeeman, lawyers for the Federal Election Commission have deemed his plans for a game-changing new breed of super PAC illegal.

Bopp had envisioned a novel strategy for the group, created in May and dubbed Republican Super PAC, that would allow it to circumvent political spending limits by using elected officials to fundraise for the PAC. My colleague Stephanie Mencimer outlined Bopp's plan last month:

Say House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) approaches the CEO of Exxon for a contribution to his reelection campaign. Under federal law, the CEO can only give Boehner $2,500. In the past, that’s the end of the conversation. But Bopp's plan envisions Boehner and his campaign asking that same donor—and his company—to pony up more money, as much as he wants, for the Republican Super PAC. The donor can even specify that the money be spent supporting Boehner or attacking his opponent. Then Bopp's PAC can buy ads, send out mailings, canvass neighborhoods, and do all the other things a political campaign typically does on Boehner’s behalf.

(snip)

Tara Malloy, associate legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), notes that the ban is hardly a done deal. On Thursday, a majority of the six-member FEC must approve the opinion to truly put it in place. Given the paralysis that has gripped the commission in recent years, there's no guarantee of a consensus. What's more, the FEC's three conservative commissioners have more frequently spurned the advice of the commission's lawyers than in years past, according to former Democratic FEC chair Scott Thomas. "For almost the entire history of the FEC, the commissioners were open to receiving recommendations from the staff," he said earlier this year. "Now they are being stopped cold by those three commissioners."

(end snip)

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/fec-attorneys-gop-super-duper-pac-illegal

Citizens United SCOTUS ruling was not enough for them.

[dmr]

1. You need to add the link.

:hi:

[deminks]

2. Thank you.

:hi:

[ejpoeta]

3. i thought according to stephen colbert anyway, that candidates couldn't have anything to do with the

PAC. as long as they were not involved it was ok. Palin could go around using her PAC money for her little road trip as long as she did not declare herself a candidate. I am glad at least they are drawing a line. Maybe they could have done it awhile ago, but at least they did now. geesh.