Thursday, August 28, 2008

501(c)(4) Accused of Violating Campaign Finance Law With Ads Attacking Obama

A new group the American Issues Project (AIP) has been caught in controversy over an ad linking candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) to former domestic terrorist William Ayers. As a 501(c)(4) organization it is allowed to air a political ad as long as the majority of its spending is nonpolitical, it cannot accept money from corporations, and it must identify the donors that finance its ads in reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The ad however, is being considered by some to be a violation of election law.

The ad "Know Enough" has images of Obama and Ayers, with a narrator asking, "Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it? Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama?"

Those who are calling the ad illegal consider it to clearly be express advocacy; the ad concerns an election, takes a position on the character and fitness for office of the candidate, and raises no legislative issue. The Ayers ad mentions Obama's name and uses the word "elect." According to the Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, an ad can be regulated and considered express advocacy "only if the ad is susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate."

In response, Obama's general counsel wrote letters to television stations, asserting that the Ayers ad is illegal and false, and that its airing is subject to a FEC penalty. The letter states that Obama never called Ayers "respectable" and "mainstream." In addition a letter was sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting an investigation into the group's activities for possible violations of campaign finance law.

According to a Politico story, a spokesman for AIP Christian Pinkston said, "This is a sad ploy to circumvent the First Amendment by a campaign who has no arguments with the merits of our ad. It's the classic maneuver: If you can't win on the merits, file a lawsuit."

AIP submitted an independent expenditure report that indicates the group is spending nearly $3 million on television ads attacking Obama.