Thursday, May 8, 2008

MS-01: DCCC files third complaint to FEC

This is posted on the DCCC website.

DCCC Press:

The DCCC filed a complaint today with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Freedom's Watch, a shadowy outside group, for failing to report its spending on television ads it's running against Democratic candidate Travis Childers (MS-01) and ran against Congressman Don Cazayoux (LA-06).

Freedom's Watch is operating as the cash-strapped NRCC's de facto independent expenditure campaign.

"Clearly, Freedom's Watch thinks they are above the law," said Jennifer Crider, Communications Director at the DCCC. "Freedom's Watch is trying to hide their spending on attack ads against Travis Childers and that's illegal. As the NRCC looks to Freedom's Watch to save them, the NRCC, Republican Members, and Republican candidates need to decide whether it's worth it to return to the hay days of Republicans' culture of corruption by being tied to a group that regularly breaks the law."

This is the third complaint the DCCC has filed with the FEC on the political attack ads that Freedom's Watch is running in the LA-06 and MS-01 special elections:

On April 16, 2008, the DCCC filed an FEC complaint against Freedom's Watch and the NRCC for illegal coordination of their attack ads. A script from one of Freedom's Watch's ads contained electronic identifiers linking it to the NRCC. The message, images, and citations in both the Freedom's Watch ad and NRCC ad are nearly identical.

On April 23, 2008, the DCCC filed an FEC complaint for running a political attack ad that directly and illegally advocates the defeat of a Democratic candidate and also for failing to disclose the names of the donors funding that ad.

On April 29, 2008, the DCCC requested the Internal Revenue Service investigate Freedom's Watch. Freedom's Watch violated its tax exempt status by running political attack ads against Democratic candidate Don Cazayoux in the LA-06 special election, designed to benefit the NRCC and the Republican candidate. Freedom's Watch meets five of the six criteria the IRS uses to determine that a group is political - not a tax exempt 501(c)(4).


You can read the actual letter here:

Link to DCCC letter to the FEC

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