Two watchdog groups filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission alleging the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee broke campaign laws by filing reports meant to conceal their hiring of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS and British ex-spy Christopher Steele.
And one has now filed a lawsuit in federal court.
The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit, filed its complaint with the FEC in 2017, alleging that Clinton and the DNC “failed to accurately disclose the purpose and recipient of payments for the dossier of research alleging connections between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russia, effectively hiding these payments from public scrutiny, contrary to the requirements of federal law.”
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation, a conservative nonprofit, filed its complaint with the FEC a year later against Clinton, the DNC, Steele, and the Perkins Coie law firm, which represented Clinton and the DNC in 2016 and was paid $12 million in 2016-2017. Perkins Coie hired Fusion GPS, which then hired Steele.
The foundation alleged the Clinton campaign “conspired” with foreign nationals by hiring Steele, who says he gathered information from sources close to the Kremlin. The FBI used Steele’s unverified dossier in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page.
The foundation filed its lawsuit in D.C. District Court in May, hoping a judge will force the FEC to rule on its complaint.
Dan Backer, one of the group’s founders and a “pro-Trump guy” who runs two pro-Trump political action committees, told the Washington Examiner that the goal of their lawsuit was to get the FEC to act, and, if not, to give the group the ability to investigate.
The foundation accuses the Clinton campaign of paying Perkins Coie for legal services to hide its opposition research efforts from the public.
“They should’ve reported a payment to Fusion GPS. They could’ve called it opposition research. They could’ve just called it research. But it definitely wasn’t just ‘legal services,’” Backer told the Washington Examiner.
Following remarks from Trump earlier in June that he’d be open to accepting foreign information, FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub released a viral statement on Twitter, saying, “Anyone who solicits or accepts foreign assistance risks being on the wrong end of a federal investigation.”
Brendan Fischer, an FEC expert for the center, told the Washington Examiner that the “payments by the DNC and Clinton campaign for opposition research were legal, but hiding those payments was not.” Fischer also said although it was doubtful that Steele’s hiring broke the law, “whether Steele’s subsequent engagement with Russian sources might run afoul of the law would really depend on the facts.”
The foundation, however, alleged that while Democratic officials have accused the Trump administration of collusion, “it was the Clinton-backed Democratic machine that conspired with foreigners in violation of both federal campaign finance law and basic decency to manipulate the election.”
Backer contended Steele attempted to influence the election by spreading his dossier to members of the media and the government.
An FEC spokesman told the Washington Examiner the organization could not comment because FEC actions must be kept confidential until the case is resolved.
When asked whether the association with Steele or with Russian sources might constitute foreign interference, an FEC spokesman pointed the Washington Examiner to the the FEC website‘s section on foreign nationals.
Fischer, who said that center is still waiting for the FEC to make a ruling, said that while most campaign finance violations only involve a fine, “if the violation is committed knowingly and willfully there could be criminal penalties.”
Perkins Coie, Elias, the DNC, and the former Clinton campaign treasurer did not respond to requests seeking comment.
A lawyer for Fusion GPS told the Washington Examiner that the firm has complied with the law.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is reviewing alleged FISA abuse, and Attorney General William Barr launched his “investigation of the investigators” earlier this year.
