An anti-gun-violence organization founded by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Federal Election Commission for failing to take action against the National Rifle Association for alleged campaign finance violations. The lawsuit charges that the federal agency did nothing when confronted with repeated complaints by Giffords and the Campaign Legal Center accusing the NRA of using shell corporations to donate more than the legal amount to seven federal candidates, including President Trump, and to coordinate with their campaigns without disclosing it. “The FEC is supposed to be the nation’s election watchdog, but in this case it didn’t bite, bark, or even whimper,” Adam Skaggs, chief counsel of Giffords Law Center, said in a statement. “We scrupulously follow the law,” NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said in response to the lawsuit. “The relationship between the firms the NRA employed and the firms the Trump Campaign and other Republican candidates used suggests illegal coordination.”

Source: Washington Post April 25, 2019 01:56 UTC