In this season of hysteria over how campaign-finance laws apply to tax- exempt political groups, it’s worth noting that House Speaker Newt Gingrich is not the only one mired in controversy. Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, reported last week that the Federal Election Commission has filed a lawsuit against Public Citizen, the left-wing Naderite advocacy group, charging it with improperly spending $ 59,200 in an effort to oust . . . Newt Gingrich. The FEC maintains that in 1992 Public Citizen coordinated its expenditures with Gingrich’s Republican primary opponent, Herman Clark, which campaign-finance law explicitly prohibits. The money was used in a “Boot Newt” campaign that included television ads and direct mail tarring Gingrich as a hypocrite and labeling him a “sellout.” It’s going to be a few months before the trial begins, and Public Citizen says it will fight the FEC. With any luck, they’ll end up settling for a $ 300,000 fine.
