Legal Library
Becker v. Federal Election Committee
Press Release
News Release dated June 19, 2000
CONTACT: Scott Lewis, Palmer & Dodge, (617) 573-0162; Greg Luke, National Voting Rights Institute, (617) 368-9100
FOR RELEASE: Immediate
NADER SUES FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION OVER CORPORATE MONEY IN DEBATES; Susan Sarandon, Phil Donahue and Other Voter-Supporters Join Case; Lawsuit Claims Illegal Corporate Contributions Flowing to Debate Participants
BOSTON — Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and a group of voters sued the Federal Election Commission today charging that illegal corporate money is being used to finance the upcoming presidential debates. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Boston, seeks to strike down FEC regulations which have allowed a small handful of U.S. corporations to contribute millions of dollars to help stage the debates. If successful, the case could have a dramatic impact on the structure of the presidential debates this fall.
Click here to read the complaint filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts.
"Corporate money has no place in presidential debates," says Scott Lewis, a partner at the Boston law firm of Palmer & Dodge, which is co-lead counsel with the National Voting Rights Institute on behalf of the plaintiffs. "Under current corporate financing, the debates this fall look like the Bud Bowl. Federal law requires an overhaul of this process."
The Commission on Presidential Debates, a non-profit corporation which organizes the presidential debates, announced in January that Anheuser-Busch will serve as one of the national financial sponsors this year, as well as the sole national sponsor of its October 17, 2000 debate in St. Louis, Missouri. The company will pay $550,000 to underwrite the St. Louis debate. Other corporate sponsors in prior presidential election years have included IBM, J.P. Morgan & Co., and the Philip Morris Companies. The lawsuit alleges that the CPD is continuing to raise and solicit additional corporate contributions for its debates, the first of which is scheduled for Boston on October 3.
Since 1907, federal law has barred corporations from making contributions or expenditures in connection with political campaigns for federal office. The law allows only three exceptions to this prohibition, covering internal corporate communications, internal voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns, and the administration of a corporate political action committee. The law does not create an exception for the financing of debates.
"By definition, debates are partisan events which showcase the positions of those candidates selected to participate," says Greg Luke, an attorney with the National Voting Rights Institute. "FEC regulations which allow corporate money to finance such events directly violate federal law."
The lawsuit asks for a court order invalidating the FEC regulations. Such an order could result in a potential FEC enforcement action against the Commission on Presidential Debates for financing its debates with illegal corporate money and could re-open the question how the presidential debates this fall will be organized.
In addition to Nader and his campaign, the plaintiffs include actress Susan Sarandon, former television talk-show host Phil Donahue, and other voter-supporters of the Nader candidacy. The Association of State Green Parties and Green Party USA also serve as plaintiffs.