District Court issues opinion in CREW v. FEC

WASHINGTON – The United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in CREW et al. v. FEC (Case No. 18-0076), granting the Commission’s motion for summary judgment and denying the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. In November 2017, the Commission did not pursue a complaint by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington alleging that New Models, which was organized in 2000 and operated under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, had failed to register and report as a political committee in 2012. The District Court concluded that the decision by the controlling Commissioners to dismiss the matter, based in part on the age of the alleged activity and that the organization no longer appeared to be active, constituted an unreviewable invocation of prosecutorial discretion.