Campaign-Money Activists Blast FEC Inaction on Crossroads

Political-finance watchdog groups said Thursday that they will sue the Federal Election Commission after it disregarded a staff recommendation to investigate conservative nonprofit Crossroads GPS, The Wall Street Journal writes.

The FEC’s general counsel called for the inquiry after staff lawyers issued a legal opinion last week that the “major purpose” of the of the 501(c)(4) group backed by Republican operative Karl Rove is to elect federal candidates. The agency decided not to investigate after its six commissioners split along party lines in a vote on the matter.

Crossroads GPS “has spent nearly $100-million on election ads since 2010 without disclosing its donors,” said Paul Ryan of the Campaign Legal Center, one of the groups planning legal action. “A ruling by the FEC that Crossroads GPS is a political committee would result in this disclosure for past and future elections.”

The conservative group has denied that it is a political committee or that electioneering is its primary purpose.