When will Rush get an FEC complaint?
By The Lonewacko Blog Posted in User Blogs — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
As discussed yesterday, the National Republican Congressional Committee has filed an FEC complaint regarding the John & Ken show (KFI 640 AM Los Angeles) and their "Political Human Sacrifice" feature.
The FEC complaint is available at this page, which also contains the contact information for the NRCC in case you'd like to tell them what you think of their actions. And, you can listen live to John & Ken's show 3pm to 7pm Pacific time M-F here.
From the complaint:
II. Legal Analysis
Conducting corporate radio shows and political rallies that expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a clearly identifiable federal candidate does not fall within the First Amendment "press exception." This express advocacy removes the station from such protection and places it squarely within the governing jurisdiction of the Federal Election Commission ("FEC"). This means that the corporate entities and federal candidate who are involved in this express advocacy are subject to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, ("FECA") as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, ("BCRA").
BCRA, aka "McCain-Feingold" is described here.
The rest of the complaint charges that Cynthia Matthews (Dreier's opponent) "Received Illegal Corporate Contributions" and the like. It also gives examples of the offending acts by the two talk jocks, such as encouraging listeners attending a rally to shout "Fire Dreier!"
John & Ken will be conducting another rally outside Dreier's office on Monday. Needless to say, they say they have some special events planned.
Without benefit of counsel, I'd say that there's either something wrong with the complaint or with the law.
This complaint will backfire in the short-term, practically guaranteeing Cynthia Matthews a victory.
It will probably backfire in the long-term as well.
I wonder how long it will be before someone goes after Rush Limbaugh or countless other talkers for what appear to be similar "offenses"?
And simply call the NRCC stunt wrong, and worse - stupid.