From: ‘Shawn Woodhead Werth
To: Stephen A Gura

Cer Lisa Stevenson

Subject: Fw: Illegitimate Attempt by Republican FEC Commissioners to Sabotage Campaign Finance Enforcement by
Justice Department and U.S. Attorneys and Emasculate FEC Professional Staff

Date: 07/12/2013 04:50 PM

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“Robert E. Rutkowski"
To <secretary@fec.gov>,
cc

07/12/2013 03:09 PM Subject Illegitimate Attempt by Republican FEC
Commissioners to Sabotage Campaign Finance
Enforcement by Justice Department and U.S.
Attorneys and Emasculate FEC Professional Staff

Ellen L. Weintraub, Chair
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
(800) 424-9530

Re: Illegitimate Attempt by Republican FEC
Commissioners to Sabotage Campaign Finance
Enforcement by Justice Department and U.S.
Attorneys and Emasculate FEC Professional Staff

Dear Secretary,

Democracy 21, joined by the Campaign Legal Center and Americans for Campaign
Reform, strongly objected to changes to the agency's Enforcement Manual that have
been proposed by Republican Commissioners McGahn, Hunter and Petersen.


The proposed changes are expected to be considered at a later meeting.

These proposed changes must be rejected by the Commission because they
will prevent the free exchange of information between the professional staff of
the agency and the Justice Department, United States Attorneys and other
agencies, at the expense of enforcing the nation’s campaign finance laws.

These changes will also prevent the Commission's professional staff from
considering information that is already public information without the voting
approval of four Commissioners — forcing the professional staff to act as if they
are blind to information that is on the public record and that is available to
everyone outside the agency. |

The proposed changes are nothing less than a gag rule for the professional
staff of the agency. They would have the predictable effect of seriously
undercutting not just the FEC’s ability to effectively enforce the campaign
finance laws, but the ability of the rest of the federal government to do so as
well.

Any Commissioner who votes for these proposed changes is voting to
sabotage the enforcement of the nation’s campaign finance laws by the FEC,
the Justice Department, and United States Attorneys. Any Commissioner who
votes for these changes will be doing a great disservice to the American
people.

The current three Republican FEC Commissioners have consistently blocked
the agency from enforcing the nation’s campaign finance laws, which they
ideologically oppose. Now in an act of extraordinary hubris, the three
Republican Commissioners are attempting to thwart the ability of other
enforcement officials to enforce the laws.

The Republican FEC Commissioners have proposed a gag rule unprecedented
in the 39 year history of the FEC that would prevent the FEC professional staff
from even speaking about enforcement matters with the Justice Department or
U.S. Attorneys offices, without prior approval of four Commissioners. This, of
course, will require the vote of at least one of the Republican Commissioners.

This latest effort by the three Republican FEC Commissioners would tell the
FEC’s professional staff “to hear no evil, see no evil and be silent about evil.”


Hoping that the concerns expressed in their letter will receive the attention they
deserve, | remain,

Yours sincerely,
Robert E. Rutkowski

cc: House Minority Leadership

i

Re: Watchdog Groups letter:

http:/Awww.democracy21.org/wp-
on I 2013/07/FEC-Letter-on-Enforcement-
Manual.pdf