A federal appeals court ruled today that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the liberal super PAC Correct the Record violated federal election laws by coordinating efforts in a multimillion-dollar campaign to defend Clinton during her unsuccessful bid against President Trump.
In the landmark decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that Clinton and Correct the Record improperly utilized an “internet exemption” to bypass restrictions. This allowed them to establish a “Benghazi Hearing War Room” and target critics without reporting the expenditures as campaign expenses.
While the court did not impose penalties on Clinton or Correct the Record founder David Brock, it criticized the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for failing to investigate a complaint about the spending and directed the FEC to address the misuse of the exemption.
FEC Chairman Sean Cooksey acknowledged the court’s decision and expressed his commitment to advocating for a “robust” exemption for online political activities.
Brock’s group reportedly spent $5.95 million, exploiting the internet exemption meant to protect online political commentary and low-dollar candidate support. The court criticized the FEC for its overly broad interpretation of the exemption, which was never intended to cover extensive spending on polls, staff, and rent.
“The internet exception was never intended as a [Federal Election Campaign Act]-swallowing loophole enabling political committees to launder all their coordinated expenditures via unpaid internet postings,” the court stated.
The Washington-based Campaign Legal Center challenged the spending and coordination after the FEC deadlocked on investigating the case due to a lack of commissioners. The court has now sent the issue back to the FEC, preserving the internet exemption for the time being.
