Politics

GOP group files FOIA with FEC for Democratic commissioners’ communications in effort to match liberal group’s request

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) is looking for any and all communications between campaign finance advocacy groups and Democratic members of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The RNLA’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request comes after the left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a similar one looking for the same information about only Republican FEC commissioners.

RNLA chairman David Norcross told The Daily Caller that CREW doesn’t “seem to have anything” substantive and that he thinks “they’re just going fishing.” Even so, CREW specifying that they’re only looking for information on Republicans sends up some red flags. “I’m not sure what they’re after,” Norcross said. “But, I’m pretty sure I don’t trust them. They have a habit of using FOIA requests and lawsuits and discovery and all that junk for social issues, and so, if we’re going to FOIA one side, let’s FOIA the other side. Let’s get it all out there.”

Norcross said many groups, left-leaning and right-leaning, often try to find ways to influence the FEC’s stances and enforcement activities when it comes to the Citizens United case. Citizens United was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts can’t be limited.

Still, what strikes Norcross as odd, though, is that CREW is only going after GOP commissioners. CREW describes itself as non-partisan, and claims it goes after all politicians “regardless of party affiliation.”

“Basically, our thought was, ‘we’re not going to let the self-proclaimed do-gooders go out and target Republicans,’” Norcross said. “If we’re going to find out what’s going on over there, let’s find out what everybody’s doing. That’s the basic point of this.”

CREW filed its FOIA request back in early March, and the group hasn’t announced any specific results from it. Norcross said he’s almost certain that CREW is pursuing this “fishing expedition” based on a left-wing agenda.

“They [CREW] are a part of the progressive spider-web, funded in part by the Democracy Alliance, of which [left-wing billionaire George] Soros is, we believe, a major funder,” he said. “I don’t know what they’re after, but I don’t think it will be ways to improve people’s First Amendment rights. Whatever they are up to, and it too might be related to Citizens United, may be to see whether there is anything on the Republican side.”

CREW did not respond to TheDC’s requests for comment.