By Brad Deutsch, Garvey Schubert Barer
The FCC issued a letter decision on Tuesday dismissing complaints filed by The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation, that had alleged violations of the FCC’s Sponsorship Identification rules. The complaints argued that two television stations improperly aired several political ads disclosing only the names of the Super PACs that paid for the ads, rather than the names of the individuals who had actually provided a vast majority (if not all) of the funding.
What is striking about these complaints, though, is that there was no claim that some anonymous unnamed third party was lurking out there secretly funded the ads. Actually, quite the opposite – the complainants themselves were easily able to determine the identities of the individuals who had funded the Super PACs, not only from information on the Super PACs’ own websites but also from disclosure filings at the FCC’s sister agency, the Federal Election Commission.
The irony of these complaints is that these folks have very deep roots at the Federal Election Commission but have, of late, turned to the FCC for relief because the FEC has been mired in deadlock. (It’s been four years, and the FEC hasn’t even been able to adopt regulations to implement the 2010 Citizens United decision. Even The New York Times noticed the FEC’s paralysis in an editorial published just today.)
Here, though, the very basis for the FCC complaints was information made publicly available as a result of the FEC’s disclosure requirements. So, not only was the information readily and publicly available, but it was actually available from the FEC’s website, the very agency that the complainants have all but given up on.
Brad Deutsch practices both Communications Law and Political Law in Garvey Schubert Barer’s Washington, D.C. office. Brad has served in senior positions both at the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.
