Challenging FEC Delays on Campaign Finance Law Violations by The Heritage Foundation — CLC v. FEC (Delay Suit—Heritage Action for America)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign Legal Center Action (CLCA) and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that the NRA Victory Fund violated the Federal Election Campaign Act by failing to properly disclose legally required information for individual contributors who together gave over $500,000. The complaint shines a light on the latest example in a repeated pattern of the National Rifle Association (NRA) subverting campaign finance laws.  

During the 2020 election cycle, the NRA Victory Fund received 46 itemized contributions from 42 individual contributors, who together gave $510,500 between July and December. Employer and occupation information was disclosed for just two out of the 42 contributors, and several months after first filing incomplete reports with the FEC, the super political action committee (PAC) has yet to amend any FEC reports to disclose any donor’s occupation or employer.

“Federal law requires that a super PAC ask donors for occupation and employer information and follow up if that information is not provided. The NRA super PAC’s failure to disclose occupation and employer information for 95% of its individual donors suggests a systematic effort to evade federal disclosure requirements by not collecting the required information, or by not reporting it, or both.” said Brendan Fischer, Campaign Legal Center Action director of federal reform. “It is highly unlikely that 95% of the NRA Victory Fund contributors ignored the committee’s request for occupation and employer information at the time they made their donation and additionally ignored the super PAC’s follow-up requests.”

 “The NRA Victory Fund is desperate to hide how its operations are funded from the American people,” said David Pucino, Giffords Law Center Senior Staff Attorney. “This isn’t just sloppy accounting. It’s part of a larger pattern of self-dealing, corruption and blatant disregard for the rules at the heart of the modern NRA. It’s time for them to provide honest answers on their donors.”

Political committees, regardless of their mission, must identify all individuals who contribute over $200 in a calendar year and that must disclose their donors’ occupations and employers. Real transparency about who is spending money on elections needs to be enforced in order to reduce political corruption. The FEC is the only government agency whose sole responsibility is overseeing the integrity of our political campaigns, and it must investigate and hold NRA Victory Fund accountable for its blatant disregard for campaign finance laws.

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For over 25 years, the legal experts at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence have been fighting for a safer America. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Giffords Law Center researches, drafts, and defends the laws, policies, and programs proven to save lives from gun violence.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed suit directly against Iowa Values, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the reelection of Sen. Joni Ernst, for failing to register as a political action committee (PAC) as required by federal law. This rare step was taken after the Federal Election Commission (FEC) failed to act when it was made aware that Iowa Values broke federal law by not reporting who their contributors are or where that money went and deprived voters of the right to know who funded its spending to influence a Senate election. The FEC’s failure to act triggered a little-used provision in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which allows direct suits by nonagency actors like CLC against a violator like Iowa Values, but only when the FEC fails to enforce the law.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare Iowa Values a political committee and order it to provide CLC and the FEC with information it illegally concealed, including the sources of its funding and the recipients of its spending in support of Sen. Ernst. The suit also asks the court to require Iowa Values to continue filing reports disclosing its receipts and disbursements, including the more than $156,000 Iowa Values spent on digital ads supporting the senator and/or opposing her opponent in the months before the 2020 election. Finally, it asks the court to assess an appropriate civil penalty against Iowa Values, to be paid to the federal government.

“Federal campaign finance laws require an organization like Iowa Values, whose ‘major purpose’ is campaign activity, to register with the FEC as a political committee and file regular reports disclosing its contributions, expenditures, and debts,” said Erin Chlopak, director of campaign finance strategy at CLC. “In failing to do so, they violated federal law and harmed CLC and the electorate at large by concealing critical information about their sources of funding and the recipients of its spending in support of the senator.”

CLC filed an administrative complaint with the FEC about these violations in December of 2019. After waiting more than 190 days for the FEC to act on the matter, CLC sued the FEC in federal court over its delay. On Oct. 14, 2020, the court issued an order finding that the FEC’s failure to act on CLC’s complaint was, “contrary to law” and ordering the Commission to conform by acting on CLC’s complaint within 90 days. The FEC still failed to act and on Feb. 11, 2021, the court issued an order declaring that the FEC had failed to enforce the law and that CLC had a right to sue Iowa Values directly over the violations in federal court.

“Transparency around who is spending money to support or oppose federal candidates is a cornerstone of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and critical to our democracy,” said Chlopak, “Under FECA, organizations that exist primarily to engage in political activity including making expenditures to support their preferred candidates must register as a PAC with the FEC and disclose their donors, along with other information about their financial activities.”

Iowa Values has deprived and continues to deprive the public of critical information about who is seeking to influence elections by failing to comply with federal PAC registration and reporting requirements. Its unlawful concealment of this information undermines voters’ trust in our democratic process.

WASHINGTON – Today, the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump concluded with 57 Senators voting to convict, falling short of the 67 votes required by the Constitution for conviction.

Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center (CLC), and a Republican former Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, released the following statement:

“By today’s vote, 43 Senators failed to hold former President Trump to full account for his conduct, which threatened our 228-year tradition of peaceful transfers of the presidency under our Constitution. There is, however, action which Congress can now take that will bind some of the wounds of our democracy and strengthen it for elections to come. With the images of violence on January 6 fresh in our minds, we must pass comprehensive democracy reform that brings us a system that rewards accountable government over tribal partisanship.

We’ve already seen the real consequences of declining public confidence in elections and can’t afford further erosion. We need reform that will free Americans from voter suppression and extreme gerrymandering. We must also reimagine our campaign finance system and break its reliance on wealthy special interests. We need a government that puts American interests before self-interest.

Congress has the bill to do it. The For the People Act (introduced as H.R. 1 in the House, S.1 in the Senate) would address a number of long-identified problems with our election system and create a more inclusive democracy for all. Congress should move quickly to do so.”