Wiley Rein’s intervention in a political campaign advertising dispute has secured for the National Republican Senatorial Committee a favorable ruling in District of Columbia federal court.
U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss denied the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit alleging the GOP spent millions of dollars on coordinated political TV ads in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act’s spending limits.
“The Court is unpersuaded that the relief that the DCCC requests in its motion—setting aside the [Federal Election Commission’s] non-response response—would prevent or redress any of these asserted injuries,” Moss wrote in his memorandum opinion and order filed Nov. 1. “An order temporarily vacating the letter would neither give the DCCC a safe harbor nor prevent the NRSC (and others) from continuing to air the allegedly sham joint fundraising ads.”
DCCC represented by Elias Law Group filed a complaint Oct. 17 alleging the FEC violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide an advisory opinion on whether the NRSC violated federal spending limits on joint fundraising committee advertising.
FECA permits committees to spend up to $61,800 on coordinated party spending for congressional nominees or up to $123,600 in some cases, according to the DCCC’s complaint alleging the NRSC spent “tens of millions of dollars” on coordinated TV ads favoring GOP candidates in the Nov. 5 election.
Democrats asked the FEC to issue an advisory opinion on the matter, but the FEC deadlocked in a 3-3 tie vote that prevented it from providing any guidance. The FEC then issued an Oct. 10 letter explaining its dilemma, according to Moss’s decision.
The DCCC, NRSC and other major party committees are “all on an even playing field,” Moss wrote in his memorandum opinion. “Each of these committees works with skilled campaign finance counsel and is well-equipped to make its best judgment about the risk of a future enforcement action or prosecution.”
“Nothing in the FEC’s October 10 letter tilted this playing field, and an order from this Court vacating the October 10 letter would not shift the ground in any legally relevant manner,” Moss added. “In short, the campaign committees are in precisely the same position today that they were in before the Commission issued its October 10 letter, and they would remain in that same position even if the Court were to issue a preliminary injunction setting the letter aside.”
Represented by Wiley, the NRSC intervened as a defendant in the DCCC’s lawsuit against the FEC.
Wiley partner Stephen J. Obermeier in an Oct. 24 filing asked Moss to deny the DCCC’s motion for a preliminary injunction and reject the plaintiff’s consolidation request for an expedited trial on the merits. Counsel for the NRSC described the GOP’s joint fundraising committee advertisements as “highly effective” and “lawful” under FEC regulations and argued the DCCC is not entitled to any relief in this litigation.
“We think Judge Moss made the right decision to deny the DCCC’s request for a preliminary injunction during this critical time in the election,” Obermeier said Tuesday afternoon in a statement, “and we look forward to winning the case on the merits when it moves forward.”
Counsel for the DCCC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this article.