Citizens Club for Growth Inc. Federal Election Commission

Washington, DC: (Sep-05-07) The Federal Election Commission (FEC) brought charges against Citizens Club for Growth Inc., a highly visible conservative activist organization, alleging that it failed to register with the agency as a political committee and report its contributions and expenditures. The lawsuit stems from complaints and an investigation in which the FEC determined that Citizens Club for Growth accepted more than $10 million in contributions between 2000 and 2006 that exceeded the statutory limit of $5,000 per individual contributor, while also receiving more than $93,000 in corporate contributions, which FEC regulated political organizations are barred from accepting. The commission also took issue with $15.1 million in expenditures by the organization between 2000 and 2004, which the agency states were connected to federal elections.

In a settlement reached, Citizens Club for Growth agreed to pay a $350,000 penalty to the Federal Election Commission. The group, which has recently undergone reorganization, is one of a number of groups that organized with the Internal Revenue Service under Section 527 of the tax code primarily to conduct "issues advocacy," but have drawn loud criticisms for running independent advertising during political campaigns. Other "527" organizations that have been fined by the FEC for electioneering activities include Progress for America Voter Fund, a Republican-allied group, and America Coming Together, a Democratic-allied organization. [CQ POLITICS: FEC VIOLATIONS]

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Published on Sep-7-07