District court grants motion to dismiss in Lieu, et al. v. FEC (D.D.C. 16-2201)

On February 28, 2019, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a suit brought against the Commission by Representative Ted Lieu, Representative Walter Jones, Senator Jeff Merkley, State Senator John Howe, Zephyr Teachout, and Michael Wager (“Plaintiffs”). Plaintiffs alleged that the Commission had relied on an “unlawful ruling” in SpeechNow.org v. FEC to dismiss a complaint against several Super PACs.

Plaintiffs' administrative complaint had alleged that those Super PACs had knowingly accepted contributions in excess of the limits set by the Federal Election Campaign Act. The Commission dismissed the administrative complaint, citing SpeechNow.org v. FEC. Upon dismissal of the administrative complaint, Plaintiffs asked the court to declare the Commission’s actions “contrary to law.” The court noted that the Plaintiffs' allegations “fall squarely within the holding of SpeechNow,” and concluded that the Commission’s dismissal of Plaintiffs' administrative complaint was not contrary to law because the Commission properly applied the D.C. Circuit’s en banc ruling in that case.

Resources

• Lieu v. FEC litigation page