WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A campaign finance watchdog is going after 45Committee, a group that spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential election.
Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit April 22 in Washington, D.C., federal court against 45Committee, which was initially an anti-Hillary Clinton cause. In 2016, when the Republican Party nominated Trump to face her, it became a vehicle for Trump supporters who wished to remain anonymous with their support for him, the suit says.
The suit accuses 45 Committee of spending as much as $38 million on the 2016 election, with every one of its social media statements supporting Trump or opposing Clinton.
"Yet 45Committee has not registered with the (Federal Elections Commission) as a political committee," the suit says.
"In failing to do so, Defendant has violated and continues to violate federal law, causing harm to Plaintiff CLC and the electorate at large, by concealing critical information about its sources of funding and the recipients of its spending in support of then-candidate Trump. That concealment continues today."
The suit follows a complaint CLC filed with the FEC more than three years ago that is still pending.