An administrative complaint was filed against Public Citizen, the Fund and McDonald (collectively, “Public Citizen”), and after investigation and an attempt at conciliation, the FEC filed a civil enforcement action against Public Citizen. The complaint alleged,
inter alia, that the Fund and McDonald, as treasurer, had violated
2 U.S.C. § 441d(a) by failing to state whether the “Boot Newt” television advertisement and flyers were authorized by a candidate or candidate committee.
The Fund admitted that the flyers and advertisements did not contain the authorization statement.
The district court granted summary judgment for Public Citizen on the
§ 441d(a) claims.
FEC v. Public Citizen, Inc., 64 F.Supp.2d 1327 (N.D.Ga.1999). The district court held that the disclosure stating that the communications were paid for by the Fund, in conjunction with the reporting requirements of FECA, rendered the candidate authorization statement unnecessary to accomplish the stated governmental objectives and therefore unconstitutional.
Id. at 1337.