MSNBC reports:
A group founded by Hillary Clinton ally David Brock filed three complaints with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday against the Bernie Sanders’ campaign and two allied outside groups.
The Sanders campaign responded:
“Just one day after the Clinton campaign said we needed to change our tone, the leaders of their coordinated super PAC, which is funded by millions from Wall Street, filed baseless and frivolous complaints with the FEC. Tells you all you need to know,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told MSNBC.
As MSNBC noted, this action by the ADLF is the first against a Democrat:
Brock founded the ADLF in 2014 to essentially weaponize the political ethics process against opponents. But it’s always been used against Republicans – this is the first time the ADLF has filed a complaint against a Democrat.
The FEC had previously taken note of the Sanders contributions and asked them to resolve it, so it’s unclear what further purpose Brock hopes to achieve with this action. However, the complaints against the NNU and People4Bernie are far more broad.
ADLF complains here and here:
As such, we respectfully request that the Commission take more significant administrative action and investigate these violations; that Respondents be enjoined from further violations; and that they be fined the maximum amount permitted by law.
They’ve got a lot of complaints about People for Bernie, with logic that would pretty much kill grassroots progressive activism in general if applied so broadly:
As explained above, People for Bernie, as a project of Progressive Kick, a Super PAC, is improperly using Senator Sanders’ first name, Bernie, in the name of the project and in doing so, is misleading the public and violating federal law. People for Bernie’s name and website, and the names, websites, Twitter handles, and/or Facebook pages of its affiliated organizations, includingWomen for Bernie, African Americans for Bernie, Millennials for Bernie, Vets for Bernie, Labor for Bernie, Socialists for Bernie, Jews for Bernie, and Latinos for Bernie, are all impermissibly using Senator Sanders’ first name.
They don’t like the NNU supporting Bernie either, basically claiming it’s a SuperPAC illegally coordinating with the campaign, ending with:
The FEC should investigate whether Bernie 2016 accepted and NNU and Progressive Kick made illegal in-kind contributions to Mr. Sander’s campaign.
David Brock, ladies and gentleman.
One would hope Democratic candidates would discourage their closest allies from “weaponizing” the political process against other Democrats, unions and progressive grassroots activists.