FEC Complaint Alleges Illegal Coordination and Contributions from Media Matters, Correct the Record and American Bridge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Media Contact: Matt Mackowiak
(512) 423-6116
[email protected]
URBANDALE, IA – Today Patriots Foundation filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to compel the agency to act on the complaint it filed against Media Matters for America and other nonprofit organizations tied to David Brock. The original complaint was filed with the FEC in April.
Federal campaign finance laws allow anyone who files a complaint with the FEC to sue the agency if it does not act on the complaint within 120 days. As stated in the federal court complaint, the Patriots Foundation is asking the court to order the FEC to take action by investigating the serious allegations these organizations.
“It’s been more than four months and the Federal Election Commission has failed to even begin an investigation of these allegations,” said Patriots Foundation senior adviser Craig Robinson. “Patriots Foundation is alleging that serious campaign finance violations have been committed by these four organizations related to their activities in the 2016 election. We hope the federal district court moves quickly to force the FEC to do its job.”
Here is some background information regarding the legal action filed in federal court:
- In April, Patriots Foundation filed a complaint with the FEC against David Brock and four of his groups: Media Matters for America; American Bridge 21st Century Foundation; American Bridge 21st Century PAC; and Correct the Record PAC.
- The FEC complaint alleges that David Brock’s organizations form an interrelated network that works together to support Democrats in elections. While the Brock groups claim to work independently, publicly available information demonstrates that their activities are closely coordinated. The result is unreported contributions among the Super PAC members of the group and in 2016, to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Most significantly:
- Media Matters is a 501(c)(3) – it is not allowed under the federal tax laws to engage in any campaign activity, and any work it performs for a campaign is an in-kind contribution that jeopardizes its tax status. But former Media Matters staff have admitted that the group was working on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and materials from Clinton’s campaign show that the campaign was working with Media Matters.
- Correct the Record PAC is a Brock Super PAC that openly coordinated with the Clinton campaign in 2016. They freely acknowledge it and claim it was legal.
- American Bridge 21st Century PAC claimed that it was independent of the Clinton campaign so that it could make independent expenditures. American Bridge is run by the same people who run Media Matters and Correct the Record, however, which we know coordinated with the Clinton campaign. They all work from the same offices, Brock was paid by all of them, American Bridge and Correct the Record shared at least 6 employees, and Correct the Record made in-kind contributions to American Bridge PAC. American Bridge’s supposedly independent activity was just as coordinated as Media Matter’s and Correct the Record’s activity – meaning that American Bridge’s IEs were really excessive and illegal contributions to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
For more information on Patriots Foundation, please visit: https://thepatriotsfoundation.com.
