TPMMuckraker

FEC Clears Obama, Crist, Others After Complaints

FEC Clears Obama, Crist, Others After Complaints

The Federal Elections Commission announced yesterday that it found no evidence of wrongdoing in six complaints, including ones against Charlie Crist’s Senate campaign and President Obama’s Victory Fund.

The complaint against Crist, filed late last year by Tampa Republican Club president Liz Wessel, alleges that he and a lobbyist friend violated FEC law when his friend, Rich Heffley, created an anti-Rubio web site without disclosing who he was.


The FEC ruled that “volunteer internet activities,” even in collusion with the candidate, “do not require disclaimers and do not constitute contributions.”

The complaint against the Obama Victory Fund, joint campaign fund of Obama for America and the DNC, was filed by a Virginia resident named Paul Kromberg. Kromberg alleged that the fund illegally took contributions surpassing the legal limit.

According to the FEC, “their solicitation complied with the Act and Commission regulations related to contribution limits and joint fundraising.”

The FEC also closed a complaint made by Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth, which alleged that Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) and the DCCC illegally coordinated on a DCCC TV ad for Mitchell. The FEC said there wasn’t enough information to establish any coordination.

The commission dismissed two complaints, one against Montana Republican, A.J. Otjen, and one against Freedom’s Watch, a now-defunct lobbying organization that employed several former Bush officials.

Barack Obama, Campaign Finance, Charlie Crist, FEC, Florida, Florida Republican Party

Editor & Publisher

Josh Marshall

Managing Editor

David Kurtz

Senior Associate Editor

Paul Werdel

Associate Editor

Sara Libby

Assistant Editor

Igor Bobic

Reporters

Brian Beutler

Carl Franzen

Sahil Kapur

Eric Kleefeld

Eric Lach

Nick Martin

Evan McMorris-Santoro

Ryan J. Reilly

Benjy Sarlin

Front Page Editor

David Taintor

Poll Editor

Kyle Leighton

News Writer

Pema Levy

Video Editor

Michael Lester

Polling Fellow

Tom Kludt

Video Fellow

Clayton Ashley

Research Interns

Michael Brooks

Publishing Intern

Christopher O’Driscoll

Miles Read

General Manager & General Counsel

Millet Israeli

VP, Ad Sales

Mary Cadwallader

Bob Edmunds

Bruce Ellerstein

Waldo Tibbetts

Manager, Ad Operations and Sales Support

Versha Sharma

Deputy Publisher

Callie Schweitzer

Director of Technology

Eric Buth

Designer/Developer

Ni Mu

Matthew Wozniak

Tech Fellow

Dennis Cahillane