Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Candidates, super-PACs pushing the boundaries?

“It has become increasingly normalized for candidates to exploit the publicly available information exception to signal to super-PACs what their needs are and where they need help. This is certainly a way of pushing the envelope on coordination,” said Brendan Fischer, associate counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group that seeks enforcement of election law.

And it’s troubling, he said.

“When a candidate signals their needs to a super-PAC, they’re increasing the odds that the supposedly independent group’s expenditures are going to be of maximum value to the campaign,” he said.

Mr. Fischer blames the six-member FEC, which he characterized as “a dysfunctional commission that’s declining to enforce election law.”