Federal judge orders FEC to investigate allegations NRA illegally gave to Republican campaigns

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A federal judge ordered the Federal Election Commission to investigate charges that the National Rifle Association broke the law by donating millions of dollars to Republican campaigns through a series of fictitious entities, including the initial White House offer from former President Donald Trump.

The case arose out of a 2019 lawsuit filed by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which was started by former congressman and gun violence survivor Gabrielle Giffords. The organization argued that the FEC failed to act on four separate complaints, alleging that the NRA “violated federal election campaign law by using a complex network of shell companies to illegally coordinate spending with campaigns. at least seven candidates for federal office. . “

The initial Giffords Law Center complaint specifically alleges that the pro-gun organization illegally donated up to $ 25 million to Trump’s campaign in 2016 through channels like the NRA Political Victory Fund. The complaint also argues that “illegal contributions to the Trump campaign alone are up to 9,259 times the limit set by Congress.” Other political candidates who the complaint claims have been implicated in the scheme include Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis.

In a one-page ruling last week, U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan for the District of Columbia demanded that the FEC “comply with its legal obligation to act,” and gave the agency 30 days to make a decision, dismissing the FEC’s request. to dismiss the Giffords Law Center lawsuit.

The FEC typically has five years to act on campaign finance violations, meaning that this decision obliges the FEC to act on potential violations of the 2016 election that otherwise might have fallen outside the statute of limitations. .

Former President Trump previously stacked the FEC with GOP loyalists, including Trey Trainor, a former Trump campaign aide, while leaving enough seats vacant that the regulator was unable to meet for most of last year. When it finally met in December 2020, they had accumulated a huge backlog of 446 cases.

Lars Dalseide, an NRA spokesperson, said in a statement to The Hill that the trial is “a baseless effort designed by anti-gun groups who want to silence the voices of our members.”

After Judge Sullivan’s ruling, David Pucino, attorney for the Giffords Law Center, said: “It is clear that the NRA will continue to break the law until someone stops them.

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