Campaign Coordination Inquiry

Lawsuit Seeking to Force FEC to Investigate Campaign Coordination Allegations

April 24, 2019

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.  These complaints were followed, in April 2019, by this lawsuit on behalf of Giffords in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to force the Federal Election Commission to investigate the initial allegations.  The complaint lays out the alleged violations of campaign finance law in detail. That litigation is ongoing.