DOJ Bouncers Eye Conservatives

The Justice Department recently announced plans to crack down on campaign finance coordination between candidates and outside groups. Not satisfied with the job the Federal Election Commission is doing to keep candidates from leveraging independent political groups, Justice said it will investigate such cases and “aggressively pursue coordination offenses at every appropriate opportunity.”

The Wall Street Journal explains, “Under federal law, a campaign expenditure is illegally coordinated when it meets certain tests for content and conduct. The content of an ad must either advocate for a candidate or mention the candidate by name in the 60 days before a general election. The conduct amounts to illegal coordination if there is material involvement or substantial discussion between a [political action committee] and a candidate regarding that election-related content.”

Proving coordination can be difficult, but starting an investigation can be alarmingly easy. All that’s needed is an allegation that two people talked who shouldn’t have – then government lawyers can come in and comb through files, computer drives and bank accounts with the full power of the FBI behind them.

Is there really a rash of corrupt coordination taking place between political candidates and PACs? What kind of widespread corruption would warrant the Justice Department taking such sweeping actions? “The opportunity to commit crime has increased dramatically,” said DOJ spokesman Peter Carr. Oh, the opportunity. But what about actual crime?

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