Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger received confirmation Thursday that the Federal Election Commission will investigate his exclusion from an August 11 Iowa debate hosted by Fox News.
Karger filed an FEC complaint because he believes that he met the debate sponsors’ criteria for candidates: an average of a one-percent showing in five national polls.
In a press release, Karger announced, “The FEC considers it an official ‘Matter Under Review,’ and assigned Karger’s request for investigation an FEC case number – MUR 6493.” (RELATED: Fred Karger to file FEC complaint against Fox News)
“I am very pleased to see the FEC act so quickly on my complaint,” Karger said. “I requested an expedited investigation because the next Fox News debate is only three weeks away, on September 22nd in Orlando, Florida. I am hoping Fox will allow me to participate.
“The FEC has very specific rules dealing with these debates, and Fox certainly appears to have broken them,” Karger stated.
After Karger announced his intention to file the complaint, election law expert Cleta Mitchell told The Daily Caller that the FEC is unlikely to rule in Karger’s favor.
“There are other cases going back many years on this subject and the FEC has never ruled in favor of these kinds of complaints,” Mitchell said. “And even when there was litigation in 1996 involving the Commission on Presidential Debates excluding the Reform Party candidate, that was not successful.”