Filing Summary

Explosive investigative reporting by The Trace revealed media buyers for the NRA’s purportedly independent campaign expenditures were simultaneously doing similar work on behalf of the campaigns they were supporting, including several high-profile U.S. Senate races and President Trump’s campaign.  Federal election law bars campaigns and independent groups from coordinating their spending.

Subsequent to the reporting by The Trace, at least five complaints were filed with the Federal Election Commission against the NRA alleging improper coordination of campaign spending.  This is the initial complaint to the FEC, filed on July 16, 2018, by the Campaign Legal Center against the NRA about potential illegal campaign spending.  The complaint lays out the alleged scheme in great detail.