Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Giffords Law Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging illegal coordination between the Trump campaign and the National Rifle Association (NRA) in December 2018. The complaint cited dozens of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) records documenting the coordinated effort.
Now a joint congressional inquiry is demanding that the NRA share all internal documents related to the accusations.
The companies in question: OnMessage, Red Eagle Media, Starboard Strategic Inc., American Media & Advocacy Group, and National Media Research Planning & Placement were all identified in the CLC complaint and The Trace / Mother Jones story as companies that helped the NRA back Trump in 2016.
The NRA can legally make unlimited expenditures to support the Trump campaign only if the organizations are completely independent. But if the same people buying ads for the Trump campaign also placed the NRA’s pro-Trump ads, then the NRA’s spending was not at all independent.
The CLC complaint requested the FEC seek appropriate sanctions for the violation to deter future violations.
