McCutcheon, et al. v. FEC alleges failure to issue advisory opinion within 60 days (D.D.C. 20-02485)

On September 4, 2020, Shaun McCutcheon and McCutcheon for Freedom (plaintiffs) filed suit against the FEC in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (the court). The plaintiffs seek Injunctive and Declaratory Relief.

Background

According to the court complaint, plaintiffs filed an advisory opinion request (AOR) with the Commission. The request asked whether $50,000 in funds McCutcheon had contributed to McCutcheon for Freedom, his authorized candidate committee, in his unsuccessful campaign for the Libertarian Party’s nomination for president could lawfully be transferred to the general, unrestricted federal account of the Libertarian National Committee, Inc. The AOR also asked whether McCutcheon, as a former candidate, could now contribute an unlimited amount of personal funds to his candidate committee and thereafter transfer those funds to the federal accounts of the Libertarian National Committee, Inc. or the Republican National Committee. Plaintiffs allege that the FEC failed to issue an advisory opinion within 60 days, as required by the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Plaintiffs seek injunctions prohibiting the FEC from commencing any administrative proceedings, voting in favor of any administrative complaint, conducting any investigation, imposing any civil fines or other sanction, or making any criminal referral against plaintiffs with respect to the proposed actions in their AOR. They also ask the court to declare that their proposed actions do not violate FECA and that the FEC violated 52 U.S.C. § 30108(a)(1) by failing to issue an advisory opinion within 60 days.