New Court Battle with FEC over Hillary Clinton Film
Washington, D.C. — As it prepares to release its hard-hitting political documentary, Hillary: The Movie, Citizens United, a grassroots advocacy organization, led by election law attorney James Bopp, Jr., today filed suit against the Federal Election Commission, arguing that issue-oriented television ads are protected by the First Amendment and should not be subject to disclosure requirements under McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.
At issue are sections of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act ("McCain-Feingold") that imposed a blackout period before elections on television advertisements that mentioned the name of a federal candidate -- "electioneering communications." Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court, in Federal Election Commission vs. Wisconsin Right to Life, ruled that groups could not be prohibited from running "genuine issue ads" during the blackout period, but the FEC has insisted that such groups must still put disclaimers on the ads and file reports about the ads, including naming their contributors. Citizens United is challenging these disclosure requirements, arguing the ads for the film Hillary: The Movie, is a commercial ad, exempted in recent FEC rulemaking, and that disclosure requirements cannot be applied to such ads consistent with the First Amendment.
Citizens United has retained James Bopp, Jr., the Indiana attorney who successfully argued the Wisconsin Right to Life case.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court today, Bopp asserts that Citizens United "intends to publish advertisements that will meet the statutory definition of electioneering communications…but are not properly considered electioneering communications for any purpose, including disclosure, because the 'ads may reasonably be interpreted as something other than as an appeal to vote for our against a specific candidate, …are not the functional equivalent of express advocacy and therefore fall outside the scope of McConnell's holding.'"
Citizens United has asked for a injunction so that it may begin running its ads by the first of the year.
Citizens United is a national 500,000 member, conservative grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to restoring government to citizens' control and reasserting the traditional American values of limited government, free enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security. Citizens United Productions is dedicated to producing thoughtful documentaries to educate citizens about significant public policy issues. Its most recent production, Rediscovering God in America, is available on DVD. Other films include "Celsius 41.11," "Border War" and "Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60.
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