RECORD NO. 17-5049

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ORAL ARGUMENT HAS NOT YET BEEN SCHEDULED

 

In The 

United States Court of Appeals 

For The District of Columbia Circuit 

CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY 

AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON; MELANIE SLOAN,

Plaintiffs – Appellants,

v.

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION,

Defendant – Appellee.

ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

REPLY BRIEF OF APPELLANTS

=

Stuart C. McPhail

Adam J. Rappaport

CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND 

 ETHICS IN WASHINGTON

455 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Sixth Floor

Washington, DC 20001

(202) 408-5565

Counsel for Appellants

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................................................................... ii

GLOSSARY...............................................................................................................v

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT.................................................................................1

ARGUMENT.............................................................................................................3

I. The FEC Misstates the Record..............................................................3

II. The FEC’s Argument Leaves No Viable Path to a FECA 

Citizen Suit............................................................................................4

A. The FEC’s Interpretation Voids the Citizen-Suit 

Provision .....................................................................................5

B. The FEC’s Interpretation is Without Support...........................10

III. The FEC May Disclose CHGO’s Contributors...................................17

IV. The FEC has Abdicated Enforcement of the FECA Against 

Dark Money.........................................................................................20

V. There is No Other Adequate Basis for the FEC’s dismissal...............23

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................27

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

CERTIFICATE OF FILING AND SERVICE

ADDENDUM

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page(s)

CASES

Abhe & Svoboda, Inc. v. Chao, 

508 F.3d 1052 (D.C. Cir. 2007).....................................................................21

Adams v. Richardson, 

480 F.2d 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1973)...............................................................20, 21

AFL-CIO v. FEC, 

333 F.3d 168 (D.C. Cir. 2003)...........................................................17, 18, 19

Ass’n of Admin. Law Judges v. F.L.R.A., 

397 F.3d 957 (D.C. Cir. 2005).......................................................................15

Bolling v. Sharpe, 

347 U.S. 497 (1954).........................................................................................8

CREW v. FEC, 

1:14-cv-1419-CRC (D.D.C. Mar. 1, 2016) .....................................................7

CREW v. FEC, 

1:16-cv-2255-CRC (D.D.C. Nov. 14, 2016) ...................................................7

CREW v. FEC, 

164 F. Supp. 3d 113 (D.D.C. 2015)...............................................................21

CREW v. FEC, 

209 F. Supp. 3d 77 (D.D.C. 2016).............................................................7, 23

CREW v. FEC, 

475 F.3d 337 (D.C. Cir. 2007),................................................................11, 18

*Chief Authorities are Designated by an Asterisk 

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Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (“DSCC”) v. 

National Republican Senatorial Committee, 

1:97-cv-1493-JGH (D.D.C. June 30, 1997) ................................................ 5-6

DSCC v. FEC, 

139 F.3d 951 (D.C. Cir. 1998).........................................................................6

FEC v. Akins, 

524 U.S. 11 (1998).........................................................................................11

Heckler v. Chaney, 

470 U.S. 821 (1985).......................................................................................20

La Botz v. FEC, 

61 F. Supp. 3d 21 (D.D.C. 2014).....................................................................8

Orloski v. FEC, 

795 F.2d 156 (D.C. Cir. 1986).......................................................................23

Perot v. FEC, 

97 F.3d 553 (D.C. Cir. 1996).........................................................................12

SEC v. Chenery Corp., 

318 U.S. 80 (1943).........................................................................................25

Sierra Club v. Whitman, 

268 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2001).........................................................................13

TRW, Inc. v. Andrews, 

534 U.S. 191 (2001).........................................................................................4

Washington Legal Foundation v. Alexander, 

984 F.2d 483 (D.C. Cir. 1993).......................................................................22

Webster v. Fall, 

266 U.S. 507 (1925).......................................................................................12

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STATUTES

52 U.S.C. § 30106(b)(1) ..........................................................................................10

52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(4)(C) .....................................................................................15

52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(8)(C) .......................................................................................6

52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(12)(A)...................................................................................17

REGULATIONS

11 C.F.R. § 5.2 .........................................................................................................17

11 C.F.R. § 111.30 ...................................................................................................15

OTHER AUTHORITY

Legislative History of Federal Election Campaign Act 

Amendments of 1976 (1977), available at http://bit.ly/2vL2vh7. ....................10, 16

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GLOSSARY

CHGO Commission on Hope, Growth and Opportunity

CREW Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and 

Melanie Sloan

FEC Federal Election Commission

FECA Federal Election Campaign Act

JA Joint Appendix

OGC Office of General Counsel

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SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

As CREW showed in its opening brief, the district court effectively 

eliminated any possibility that a citizen suit authorized by the FECA could be 

brought by treating the FEC’s dismissal of CREW’s complaint against CHGO as 

not “contrary to law.” In its response, the FEC concedes that under the express 

terms of the FECA there must be a viable scenario in which a complainant could 

bring a citizen suit. FEC Br. 31. Yet it uses the remainder of its brief arguing for 

an interpretation of the FECA under which no citizen suit could ever occur. That 

cannot be correct, as it would nullify the citizen suit provision.

Indeed, the FEC claims that in this case—where CHGO committed wanton 

and obvious violations of the FECA and obstructed the FEC’s investigation, the 

FEC already possesses all necessary information to enforce the law yet won’t to 

preserve agency resources, and CREW stands ready to take legal action to 

vindicate its rights—a citizen suit is still barred. One is left to wonder, if the 

FECA does not permit a citizen suit here, when would it? The FEC has no answer, 

and cannot posit even a single realistic case in which a citizen suit might proceed 

in the face of its claim of prosecutorial discretion. 

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The FEC’s resistance to treating its discretionary dismissals as contrary to 

law rests on its mistaken understanding of the effect of that determination. A 

court’s finding that the FEC’s dismissal was “contrary to law” does not “require 

[the agency] to resolve” a case. FEC Br. 32. The FEC retains its discretion to 

abstain from enforcement. Rather, under the FECA, that decision merely opens the 

door to the possibility that the complainant will attempt to resolve the case on its 

own. There is simply no inconsistency with recognizing the FEC’s prosecutorial 

discretion and nonetheless noting that an exercise of that discretion permits 

behavior contrary to law. 

There is also no reasonable basis for a discretionary dismissal here. The 

FEC could partially remedy CHGO’s significant violations of the FECA and deter 

future violations by releasing the names of CHGO’s contributors at little or no 

expense to itself. Further, the dismissal against CHGO does not evidence a 

reasonable choice not to pursue enforcement in this one case, but rather is part of 

the controlling commissioners’ broad abdication of their duty to enforce the FECA 

against dark money organizations. Finally, the legal doctrines cited by the 

controlling commissioners do not separately justify dismissal. 

The Court should allow CREW to move forward on resolving this matter. 

The FEC has no legitimate basis to prevent enforcement against CHGO. 

Accordingly, it’s dismissal below was contrary to law. 

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ARGUMENT

I. The FEC Misstates the Record

The FEC cannot and does not dispute that it had “strong grounds” to 

prosecute CHGO. JA 862. There also is no dispute that CHGO “obvious[ly]” 

violated FECA, allowing donors to spend millions of dollars to elect candidates 

while remaining unknown. JA 881. Nor is there any dispute that CHGO, in its 

scheme to keep those donors secret, filed false documents under penalty of perjury, 

lied to government agents, and obstructed the FEC’s investigation. Nevertheless, 

in an attempt to bolster the controlling commissioners’ unjustified conclusions, the 

FEC misrepresents a key part of the record: the clear evidence of CHGO’s 

organizational purpose. See FEC. Br. 14.

The documents revealed in the investigation show that CHGO’s one and 

only purpose—it’s “[s]imple mission”—was to “win Senate seats.” JA 519. In 

contrast to the FEC’s suggestion that these documents indicate only “one of 

[CHGO’s] goals,” FEC Br. 14, the record shows CHGO’s “goal”—singular—was 

to use “express advocacy in targeted Senate races” to “participate directly in [the] 

election or defeat of candidates,” while shielding contributor identities. JA 514–

25. The group “focuse[d] on running independent expenditure campaigns in key 

districts to support the election of Republican candidates.” JA 578. A clearer 

statement of a group’s single organizational electoral purpose is hard to imagine.

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CHGO was created and existed for one purpose: to influence elections while 

shielding the identities of its contributors.

II. The FEC’s Argument Leaves No Viable Path to a FECA Citizen Suit

The FEC does not dispute that an interpretation of the FECA that leaves a 

provision “superfluous, void, or insignificant” is to be rejected. TRW, Inc. v. 

Andrews, 534 U.S. 19, 31 (2001). It further does not dispute that the FECA’s 

contrary to law standard for judicial review must be interpreted in a way that 

provides a viable path for a complainant to bring a citizen suit. Nonetheless, the 

FEC’s contentions, taken as a whole, would prevent the conditions for a citizen suit 

from ever being realistically satisfied. 

The FEC sets out an impassible gauntlet that precludes a complainant from 

bringing a citizen suit. On even the first step towards that suit, a judgment that the 

FEC’s dismissal was contrary to law, the FEC argues that: (1) judicial review is 

“[h]ighly deferential,” FEC Br. 24, (2) that standard is satisfied as long as the 

FEC’s dismissal is “reasonable,” id. at 28, (3) it is reasonable for the agency to 

avoid even the most minimal of expenses, id. at 26, (4) all agency enforcement 

involves the expense of some minimal resource and, therefore, every dismissal is 

reasonable, id. at 38 (arguing disclosure would require the agency to draft a memo, 

and avoiding that justified dismissal), (5) the complainant may not obtain

discovery to show the dismissal was not motivated by cost-avoidance, id. at 34, 

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and (6) the complainant may not even cite other FEC action in its challenge to cast 

doubt on the commissioners’ justification, id. at 41. And if a complainant 

miraculously navigates this treacherous path to win a “contrary to law” judgment, 

then the FEC may simply block the citizen suit by reopening the case and 

redismissing it. Id. at 31. 

The FEC’s cramped interpretation of the FECA simply leaves no room for a 

citizen suit, rendering that provision void. It can point to no plausible case under 

its understanding where a citizen suit might proceed in the face of its expansive 

claim of prosecutorial discretion. Nor does it show that authority compels its 

claim. 

A. The FEC’s Interpretation Voids the Citizen-Suit Provision

The FEC argues that its interpretation of the FECA’s contrary to law 

standard leaves ample room for citizen suits. Yet the only examples it cites—a 

single nonanalogous citizen suit bought after the FEC’s failure to timely act and a 

hypothetical case of open racial discrimination—provide no support for the FEC’s 

position.

In an attempt to portray its interpretation as reasonable and accommodating 

to citizen suits, the FEC cites only a single example of a citizen suit brought in the 

statute’s forty-plus years. And even that case fails to reconcile the FEC’s vision of 

its prosecutorial discretion with the text of the FECA. In Democratic Senatorial 

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Campaign Committee (“DSCC”) v. National Republican Senatorial Committee, 

1:97-cv-1493-JGH (D.D.C. June 30, 1997), the DSCC sued the FEC for its failure 

to act on the DSCC’s complaint after almost two years. DSCC v. FEC, 139 F.3d 

951, 952 (D.C. Cir. 1998).

1

 Unlike this case, the FEC’s prosecutorial discretion

was not at issue. Rather, the district court found that the FEC had failed to timely 

act, id., and, when it failed to act again, granted the DSCC the right to sue the 

respondent, see Order 1–2, DSCC v. FEC, No. 96-2184 (JHG) (D.D.C. Sept. 11, 

2000) (attached in addendum). The DSCC promptly did so. Id. at 2. Notably,

however, the FEC argued that the DSCC’s “private cause of action ‘represented a 

continuing incursion on the Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction to enforce the 

Act.’” Id. at 3–4. There was apparently no ruling on the FEC’s argument, 

however, as the DSCC voluntarily dismissed its citizen suit after the FEC belatedly 

acted on the DSCC’s complaint. Id. at 2. 

The case, which did not consider an FEC dismissal nor its prosecutorial 

discretion, sheds no light on how a complainant may bring a citizen suit in those 

circumstances. It also does not represent a reasonable limit to the FEC’s proffered 

interpretation, adopted below, because the agency argued that even that case was 

an improper intrusion on its authority. This odd and singular example hardly 

 

1 The FECA provides two grounds for suit: to challenge the “dismissal of the 

complaint or the failure to act.” 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(8)(C). In either situation, 

the FECA provides for a citizen suit safeguard. See id. 

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shows a regularly exercised citizen suit provision consistent with the FEC’s 

interpretation of the FECA.

In the absence of any instructive history of citizen suits, the FEC argues that 

complainants in other cases have at least been successful in securing the first 

precondition to bringing a suit: a contrary to law judgment. The example the FEC 

cited, however, CREW’s victory in a different case, is not helpful to the FEC’s 

contentions. In that case, the district court rejected the FEC’s argument—adopted 

below in this case—that the controlling commissioners’ simple citation of 

prosecutorial discretion rendered any legal error in their analysis irrelevant. 

Compare FEC Mot. for Summ. J. 49, CREW v. FEC, 1:14-cv-1419-CRC (D.D.C. 

Mar. 1, 2016) (arguing legal error irrelevant because dismissal was discretionary)

(attached in addendum) with CREW v. FEC, 209 F. Supp. 3d 77, 93 (D.D.C. 2016)

(reviewing for legal error). Moreover, even after securing this victory, the FEC

conformed with the judgment by simply redismissing one of the respondents based 

on new and specious justifications (the FEC has not issued a new decision on the 

other respondent). That new dismissal is again in litigation, see CREW v. FEC, 

1:16-cv-2255-CRC (D.D.C. Nov. 14, 2016), but the district court held that even a 

newly erroneous dismissal conformed with the district court’s judgment, CREW 

Br. add. 14–15, and thus blocked CREW from bringing a citizen suit. The case 

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hardly demonstrates the robust application of the FECA’s citizen suit provision

consistent with the FEC’s interpretation. 

Indeed, the FEC cannot conjure a single plausible example—real or 

imagined—in which it concedes that a court might rule that the FEC’s decision to 

forgo enforcement simply to preserve resources could be unreasonable. Rather, the 

sole possibility to which it points is conjecture from a district court decision 

presuming that an exercise of prosecutorial discretion might be unreasonable if the

agency’s stated reason for dismissal “was racially discriminatory.” FEC Br. 29 

(citing La Botz v. FEC, 61 F. Supp. 3d 21, 33 n.5 (D.D.C. 2014)). It would be 

exceedingly odd, however, for Congress to have crafted a statutory cause of action 

that is available only where an agency openly violates the Constitution—a situation 

in which the complainant would already have a remedy. See, e.g., Bolling v. 

Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497 (1954). Indeed, according to the FEC, unless the controlling 

commissioners made their racist motivations plain, a complainant would have no 

remedy because it could not seek discovery to probe the true rationale for the 

commissioners’ decision. FEC Br. 34.

Besides citing this singular example, the FEC does nothing to explain how a 

plaintiff could show an FEC decision based on its “decision on how to best allocate 

its resources” could ever be unreasonable. JA 877. Undoubtedly, every dismissal 

will result in the agency expending fewer resources than if it had gone forward. If 

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expending fewer resources is a legitimate goal, then every dismissal is reasonable, 

and no dismissal could ever be contrary to law. The FEC does not even attempt to 

grapple with the absurd results of its argument. Nor does it provide any 

explanation for why Congress would craft a citizen suit safeguard that can 

nonetheless be blocked by a fact that will be true for every FEC dismissal.

Indeed, the fact that the FEC seeks to block CREW’s complaint against 

CHGO is all the proof needed of the extremity of its interpretation. There is no 

dispute that CHGO obviously and egregiously violated the statute, by means of the 

actions of individuals who continue to remain active in politics, in support of 

candidates who continue to hold office, and on behalf of contributors who almost 

certainly continue to be active today. Nonetheless, the FEC argues that no relief 

can or will be sought, by either itself or by CREW, simply because it believes its 

resources are best spent elsewhere. If the FEC’s decision is not contrary to law 

here, then the citizen suit provision is insignificant indeed. 

The FEC’s failure to seriously address the consequences of its argument

betrays the fact that FEC’s proffered interpretation, adopted by the district court 

below, simply leaves the FECA’s citizen-suit provision superfluous, void and 

insignificant. That is impermissible and should be rejected. 

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B. The FEC’s Interpretation is Without Support

The FEC argues that, irrespective of its impact on FECA citizen suits, 

binding authority demonstrates that it has prosecutorial discretion, which prohibits 

treating prudential dismissals as contrary to law. The authority cited by the FEC, 

however, does not support this conclusion. 

First, the FEC cites the agency’s “exclusive [civil] jurisdiction.” FEC Br. 3

(citing 52 U.S.C. § 30106(b)(1)), but legislative history clarifies that the FEC’s 

jurisdiction is “exclusive” between it and the Department of Justice: it does not 

bar citizen suits. Before the 1976 amendments, the FEC and DOJ shared 

responsibility for civil enforcement. See Legislative History of Federal Election 

Campaign Act Amendments of 1976 at 283 (1977) (“1976 History”), available at

http://bit.ly/2vL2vh7. This led to a confusion of roles, and so in the 1976 

amendments Congress gave the FEC “exclusive civil enforcement authority” to 

“avoid confusion and overlapping” authorities. Id. at 283, 470. In no way, 

however, was the FEC’s exclusive civil authority understood to bar FECA citizen 

suits. Indeed, that would have been exceedingly odd as the same 1976 amendment 

that provided for the FEC’s exclusive authority also created FECA citizen suits. 

See id. at 240. 

Second, the cited case law does not help the FEC. The agency does not cite 

a single Circuit or Supreme Court case holding that its prosecutorial discretion bars 

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citizen suits. Rather, the FEC cites authority that shows it “may decline to pursue 

an enforcement matter.” FEC Br. 24–25. But that is not relevant to the question 

presented. Even if the FEC may “decide[] in the exercise of its discretion not to” 

enforce the FECA, FEC v. Akins, 524 U.S. 11, 25 (1998), that provides no 

authority about whether that exercise of discretion is contrary to law.

Neither of the cases cited by the FEC considered whether the agency’s 

prosecutorial discretion worked to block a citizen suit. In Akins, the Supreme 

Court recognized that the FEC could dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint on remand 

based on its prosecutorial discretion. See 524 U.S. at 25. It did not say, however, 

what effect that dismissal would have on a court’s later review of that dismissal. 

Rather, the Court only noted that a later discretionary dismissal did not deny a 

plaintiff standing in the case before it. Id.

In CREW v. FEC, 475 F.3d 337 (D.C. Cir. 2007), this Circuit held that the 

plaintiff had no standing to challenge the FEC’s dismissal because the sought-after

information was already available to the public. Id. at 339–40. After finding the 

plaintiff suffered no injury, id. at 339, the court went on to note that the remedy the 

plaintiff sought, a specific action by the agency, was not within the court’s power 

to order, id. at 340. Once again, however, that does not shed light on the question 

of whether a prudential dismissal bars a citizen suit. 

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With respect to the district court opinions cited, FEC Br. 26, there is no 

indication that the parties in those cases presented the court with the consequences 

of upholding the FEC’s dismissal on the basis of prosecutorial discretion, or that 

any of the courts considered the issue. As the issue was “neither brought to the 

attention of the court nor ruled upon,” the decisions are not even persuasive 

authority on the question. Webster v. Fall, 266 U.S. 507, 511 (1925).

At bottom, the FEC confuses a court’s judgment that a dismissal is contrary 

to law with an order that the FEC engage in enforcement proceedings. See FEC 

Br. 32 (presuming that if prosecutable discretion is “contrary to law,” then the 

“agency is required to resolve the merits” of the case). Yet that is not what the 

FECA provides. If the FEC chooses not to act and that choice allows activity that 

is “contrary to law,” a court’s order finding as much only alerts the FEC that 

continued inaction will allow a citizen suit. See Perot v. FEC, 97 F.3d 553, 559 

(D.C. Cir. 1996) (holding court may not compel agency action). The FEC’s 

discretion that these cases recognized (and that the FEC spends so much of its brief 

guarding) is in no way diminished. 

Third, the FEC ominously warns that citizen suits must not be allowed—

despite Congress’s express permission—because the FEC operates in so sensitive 

an area that private litigants must simply not be tolerated. Yet allowing citizen 

suits hardly raises the “specter of partisan federal law enforcement suits” of which 

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the FEC cautions. FEC Br. 32. Rather, the FECA provides that the FEC, unique 

among agencies, serves as a gatekeeper to weed out meritless or purely partisan 

attacks. See CREW Br. 30. Complainants may not pursue enforcement or gain 

“subpoena authority” until the FEC reviews the complaint for itself to confirm it 

has merit. If it does not, the FEC may dismiss the complaint on substantive 

grounds. Where, however, a complaint is well-substantiated and the agency 

merely chooses to forgo enforcement to save its resources—as is the case with the 

FEC’s dismissal of CHGO—there is no legitimate reason not to allow a citizen suit 

to go forward. Indeed, it is for that very situation Congress enacts them. See

Sierra Club v. Whitman, 268 F.3d 898, 905 (9th Cir. 2001).

Fourth, with respect to comparable statutory provisions providing for citizen 

suits, the FEC draws the wrong conclusion from the fact that no other citizen suit 

provision requires judicial review of an administrative judgment below. FEC Br. 

30–31. To the FEC, this means that the FECA’s citizen suit provision must be read 

in isolation, treating agency inaction as a bar to a citizen suit even though agency 

inaction in every other case authorizes a citizen suit. It has the logical inference 

backwards, however. 

For every other agency, the availability of a citizen suit supports the 

conclusion that the agency’s decision to prosecute is committed to its discretion. 

See Sierra Club, 268 F.3d at 904–05 (“Another aspect of the statutory structure 

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that suggests that the enforcement mechanisms are discretionary is the availability 

of citizens suits to enforce . . . .”). Thus, it is because a citizen suit may move 

forward in the absence of agency enforcement that those agencies enjoy 

prosecutorial discretion that protects their inaction from judicial review. Id.

Courts recognize that treating these agencies’ prosecutorial discretion as a bar to 

judicial relief against the agency does not impact the citizen’s right to sue the 

wrongdoer and does not leave a violation unremedied. 

The uniqueness of the FECA, however, means that treating the FEC’s 

prosecutorial discretion in a similar fashion would eliminate citizen suits against 

the wrongdoer and would leave significant violations of the law unremedied. 

Accordingly, the FECA’s uniqueness counsels against treating its prosecutorial 

discretion in the same way a court may treat another agency’s inaction. Rather, it 

counsels in favor of treating the FEC’s discretion as irrelevant to the question of 

whether judicial relief is available against the agency where its inaction permits 

behavior contrary to the law

Lastly, the FEC argues, without authority, that CREW’s proffered 

interpretation is unworkable. The FEC argues that, if a court were to treat its 

discretionary dismissals as contrary to law, it would be forced to investigate and 

prosecute every violation, no matter how small, lest a respondent be dragged into 

court in civil litigation. FEC Br. 32. Where a violation involves “very small 

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amounts of money,” however, the FEC may find the violation is de minimis: a 

ruling on the merits of the complaint that does not involve the agency’s discretion. 

Ass’n of Admin. Law Judges v. F.L.R.A., 397 F.3d 957, 961–62 (D.C. Cir. 2005)

(treating de minimis dismissal as substantive interpretation subject to Chevron). A 

complainant who wishes to challenge that dismissal would therefore need to show 

the FEC’s interpretation of the substantive rule is impermissible, or its conclusion 

as to the severity of the violation is arbitrary or capricious. Moreover, the FEC has 

several tools to dispose of “technical reporting violations” and other small 

violations: it may resolve the matter through its own procedure for administrative 

fines, 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(4)(C), 11 C.F.R. § 111.30, or if it may reach a 

conciliation agreement that considers the equities of the situation. The respondent 

then could not be subject to a citizen suit. In short, there is no need to nullify a 

congressionally enacted statute to protect those respondents from harassing 

litigation. 

Rather than overenforcement, however, the real concern is the total and 

complete absence of enforcement that has resulted because of FEC gridlock and 

the nullification of the FECA’s citizen-suit safeguard. As discussed in CREW’s 

opening brief and by amici, the FEC has abdicated its job and federal campaign 

finances laws are violated with impunity. CREW Br. 41–43; Br. Amici Curiae 

Campaign Legal Center and Demos in Supp. of Appellants 31–34 (noting, e.g.,

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massive increase in deadlocked votes). Even FEC commissioners recognize that 

there is currently no agency enforcement against dark money organizations. JA 

762 (“Three of our colleagues have gone to great lengths to avoid enforcing the 

law against dark money groups like CHGO.”). The lack of enforcement is 

particularly galling here, where CHGO’s violations are obvious and egregious, its 

behavior was condemnable, and where a remedy could be so easily obtained. 

Congress crafted the citizen suit provision for exactly this possibility: to correct a 

“history of weak enforcement” and “nonenforcement.” 1976 History 92, 176. 

Unfortunately, in part due to the blocking of citizen suits against groups like 

CHGO, that history has continued. 

Irrespective of the reasons for the FEC’s impotence, Congress provided a 

ready backstop to ensure enforcement—citizen suits brought by private plaintiffs 

who have shown that their complaint has merit. Because the FEC’s proffered 

interpretation of the FECA—adopted by the district court below—provides no 

viable avenue for such suits to occur but, indeed, renders them impossible when 

they would be the most useful, the FEC’s interpretation must be rejected. Citizen 

suits must be allowed to proceed where the FEC dismisses solely based on its 

prosecutorial discretion, and thus such dismissals must be contrary to law within 

the meaning of the FECA. 

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III. The FEC May Disclose CHGO’s Contributors

Putting aside the statutory conflict created by the district court and FEC’s 

interpretation of the FECA, both also wrongly concluded that enforcement here 

would require a material expenditure of resources by the agency. The FEC 

acknowledges that it knows the identities of CHGO’s contributors and that, if 

CHGO is a political committee (as it undoubtedly is), those names should be made 

public. Yet it refuses an easy remedy: sharing those identities with voters. 

The FEC argues it lacks authority to do so, but it is simply mistaken. The 

FEC has authority and indeed obligation to release documents from its own 

investigation where it finds the respondent’s attempts to keep that information 

secret violate the FECA. Although FEC investigations are confidential while 

ongoing, 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(12)(A), and although First Amendment concerns 

counsel against disclosure of investigatory materials where the target of the 

investigation has engaged in no wrongdoing, AFL-CIO v. FEC, 333 F.3d 168, 178 

(D.C. Cir. 2003), the FEC has an obligation to “make the fullest possible disclosure 

of records to the public,” 11 C.F.R. § 5.2. That obligation extends to the FEC’s 

disclosure of investigatory information illuminating on a respondent’s wrongdoing, 

just as it has done before.

As CREW noted in its opening brief, the FEC has released this information

in the past. CREW Br. 39. While the FEC attempts to distinguish that case, it 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 23 of 48
18

simply misrepresents it. Contrary to the FEC’s description, see FEC Br. 36, it was 

the FEC that released the information gathered in its investigation in the 2007 

CREW case, see 475 F.3d at 339. The case involved the in-kind contribution of a 

list of activists to a campaign. Id. at 337. While the fact that the contribution had 

been made was known publicly, id. at 337–38, it was the FEC’s OGC that 

“requested that the administrative respondents provide a copy of the materials” as 

part of its investigation into the administrative complaint. Id. at 338. The OGC 

recognized the material was an in-kind contribution that had not been properly 

reported in violation of the FECA. Id. at 338. When the matter closed, the FEC 

posted the gathered non-public materials online, where “any citizen who want[ed] 

to learn the details of the transaction . . . [could] do so by visiting the 

Commission’s website.” Id.; see also Response from Americans For Tax Reform 

and Grover Norquist, MUR 5409 (May 24, 2004), available at http://eqs.fec.gov

/eqsdocsMUR/00002BFF.pdf; Response of Busy-Cheney ’04 Inc., MUR 5409 

(May 24, 2004), available at http://eqs.fec.gov/eqsdocsMUR/00002BF8.pdf.

2

Notably, the FEC posted this material even after this Court issued its

decision in AFL-CIO the year before, the case the FEC says prohibits release of 

 

2 While some of these materials were posted on a respondent’s website, its

“website [did] not include the extensive Coalition meeting attendees lists . . . which 

comprise most of the materials at issue.” OGC Report 8, MUR 5409 (Sept. 1, 

2004) (citing attachment to Resp. of Bush-Cheney ’04 Inc., supra) available at

http://eqs.fec.gov/eqsdocsMUR/00002BF9.pdf. 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 24 of 48
19

information here. See FEC Br. 37. It did so because nothing in AFL-CIO bars the 

posting of materials where a violation was or could have been found. Rather, that 

case considered only whether the agency could release investigatory materials 

gathered from “respondents [who] have been cleared of wrongdoing.” 333 F.3d at 

178 (noting such release would not “deter future violations”). Moreover, while 

this Court in AFL-CIO was concerned that the disclosure of the group’s internal 

files and strategy documents—files that did “not even relate to questionable 

activities”—could chill First Amendment activity, id., that concern is notably 

absent where the FEC possesses information the group is required to disclose, 

consistent with the First Amendment. 

In response, the FEC again argues that the controlling commissioners made 

no assessment of whether CHGO violated the statute and wrongfully withheld 

information because they had not decided whether there was even reason to believe 

CHGO violated the FECA. FEC Br. 39. But the controlling commissioners 

refused to find reason to believe CHGO violated the FECA because, in part, they 

(erroneously) concluded any proceedings would be “academic” because the FEC 

could provide no remedy for CHGO’s violations. JA 769. Because the FEC could 

release the investigatory files showing the identities of the contributors—the 

information CHGO wrongfully withheld—the controlling commissioners’

conclusion is baseless. 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 25 of 48
20

As the FEC could disclose the identities of CHGO’s contributors with littleor-no expenditure of resources, CREW’s case against CHGO is in no way 

academic. The controlling commissioners therefore failed to offer an adequate 

explanation to justify their dismissal, and the dismissal was contrary to law. 

IV. The FEC has Abdicated Enforcement of the FECA Against Dark 

Money

CREW notes in its opening brief that the three controlling commissioners 

who voted against finding reason to believe in the case below have refused to find 

reason to believe in any contested political committee case. Amici further support 

this point, citing the gridlock at the FEC and totally inadequate enforcement by the 

agency. In response, the FEC refuses to acknowledge the materials or explain the 

controlling commissioners’ continued failure to enforce the FECA against dark 

money groups. Rather, the FEC argues the “FECA’s text limits judicial review of 

complaint dismissals to ‘the complaint’ at issue” and, as an abdication requires 

consideration of “material that is beyond the scope of the administrative record,”

the FEC’s abdication is immune from judicial review. FEC Br. 39–40. The FEC 

is wrong, however, for a number of reasons.

First, an abdication cannot justify agency inaction. See Heckler v. Chaney, 

470 U.S. 821, 833 n.4 (1985) (even where prosecutorial discretion not judicially 

reviewable, abdication is unreasonable and unlawful); see also Adams v. 

Richardson, 480 F.2d 1159, 1162 (D.C. Cir. 1973) (en banc). Thus, if the 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 26 of 48
21

controlling commissioners’ dismissal of the complaint against CHGO is part of 

that abdication, their exercise of prosecutorial discretion is unreasonable in this 

case. The FEC’s lengthy recitation of the limits of review of other cases is beside

the point.3

Second, the Court may consider the other FEC matters cited by CREW. 

Those FEC determinations are agency judgments of which the Court may take 

notice, even if they are not in the administrative record. Abhe & Svoboda, Inc. v. 

Chao, 508 F.3d 1052, 1059 (D.C. Cir. 2007). Moreover, consideration of those 

materials is necessary, as abdication by its very terms requires an examination of 

an agency’s action across multiple cases. See, e.g., Adams, 480 F.2d at 1163 (“A 

consistent failure to [enforce] is a dereliction of duty . . . .” (emphasis added)). If a 

court was limited to reviewing only a single case at hand, it would be impossible to 

differentiate prosecutorial discretion from abdication. 

CREW introduces these other decisions because (1) they are the decisions of 

the same controlling commissioners that dismissed CREW’s complaint against 

CHGO, (2) they involve legally analogous claims that involve the application of 

the FECA’s political committee provisions, and (3) they involve cases that were 

found meritorious by the FEC’s OGC. Those decisions show that the three 

controlling commissioners have never enforced the FECA’s political committee 

 

3 The sole avenue for judicial review of the FEC’s abdication is via a FECA suit.

See CREW v. FEC, 164 F. Supp. 3d 113, 118–19 (D.D.C. 2015).

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 27 of 48
22

provisions in a contested case, even where the OGC recommends proceeding. 

Though the FEC clearly refuses to address this evidence, it demonstrates that the 

three controlling commissioners have abdicated enforcement of the FECA’s 

political committee rules. 

Third, the FEC argues that, even if these materials could be considered, the 

D.C. Circuit has limited abdication claims to those situations in which an agency 

affirmatively finds wrongdoing but then refuses to act. FEC Br. 42. The FEC’s 

claim, however, is based on a misreading of Washington Legal Foundation v. 

Alexander, 984 F.2d 483 (D.C. Cir. 1993). In that case, this Court simply found 

that the plaintiffs’ ability to sue the wrongdoing entities directly meant they had an 

alternative adequate remedy precluding APA review of agency inaction. Id. at 

486–88. It did not call into question the ability to sue an agency for abdication 

where plaintiffs lack the ability to sue the wrongdoers directly or where, as here, 

plaintiffs can only obtain a right to sue the wrongdoer after judicial review of the 

agency action. 

The FEC’s abdication has blocked the enforcement of vital provisions of the 

FECA and denied CREW and voters essential information for the functioning of 

our democracy. Because an abdication cannot provide a reasonable basis for 

nonenforcement, the dismissal below was contrary to law. 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 28 of 48
23

V. There is No Other Adequate Basis for the FEC’s dismissal

In its opening brief, CREW demonstrated that the legal doctrines cited by 

the controlling commissioners to justify dismissal did not, in fact, do so. In 

response, the FEC largely concedes CREW was right, but nonetheless argues the 

controlling commissioners’ legal errors are irrelevant. According to the FEC, at 

most CREW has shown that the controlling commissioners were wrong about 

whether they could have sought enforcement against CHGO, but because no law 

“require[s]” enforcement, CREW cannot prevail. FEC Br. 43. This argument 

betrays the shocking implications of the FEC’s perceived discretion: according to 

it, it need never correctly interpret the law because it is never actually required to 

enforce it in the first place, and thus no complainant may ever prevail because none 

could ever show the FEC must enforce. Nevertheless, the FECA’s contrary to law 

standard does not oblige CREW to show that enforcement is “required.” Rather, 

CREW need only show that the stated reasons for dismissal do not actually compel

dismissal. Orloski v. FEC, 795 F.2d 156, 161 (D.C. Cir. 1986); CREW, 209 F. 

Supp. 3d at 93 (reversing dismissal where First Amendment did not compel 

dismissal). CREW has done that.

First, with respect to the statute of limitations, the FEC concedes that the 

“controlling [c]ommissioners never suggested that the statute of limitations totally 

barred further enforcement proceedings on CREW’s political committee claim.” 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 29 of 48
24

FEC Br. 48–49. Of course, that means that there is no dispute that the statute of 

limitations did not require dismissal. Similarly, there is no dispute that the 

CHGO’s purported defunct status did not require dismissal. FEC Br. 50 (noting 

controlling commissioners “did not completely rule out the possibility of 

proceeding” against a purportedly defunct group or its agents). 

The FEC nonetheless attempts to use these issues to support dismissal by 

saying that they might complicate enforcement and drain the agency’s resources. 

Yet that is merely a recasting of its broad prosecutorial discretion claim. For 

reasons stated above, that claim fails because it would mean no dismissal could be 

contrary to law because every enforcement will involve some use of the agency’s 

resources.

CREW has further demonstrated that the cited “logistical difficulties” in 

enforcement due to the age of the case are, in fact, nonexistent. Cf. FEC Br. 51. 

Stale memories and missing documents are irrelevant where the FEC already has 

collected a complete record demonstrating beyond a mere reason to believe that 

CHGO was a political committee and failed to disclose its donors. In this case, 

there is no logistical difficulty to providing at least a partial remedy by releasing 

CHGO’s contributors’ names.

With respect to the merits, the FEC misstates the record in two important 

respects to try to make the controlling commissioners’ refusal less indefensible. 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 30 of 48
25

First, the FEC states that the relevant commissions were “not exclusively attributed 

to the costs of producing and airing advertisements,” and it could not count them 

towards CHGO’s political activity. FEC Br. 52. However, the commissions paid 

to CHGO’s subvendor, New Day, were exclusively for its work for “ad buys.” JA 

670 (describing New Days work as solely arranging the purchase of airtime). 

Indeed, its commission was proportional to the cost of each ad, id. (noting New 

Day’s commission was “10%” of each ad buy), allowing granular attribution of her 

commission for each of CHGO’s electoral ads, see JA 754. Adding just New 

Day’s commissions for CHGO’s express advocacy ads to the other amounts 

CHGO spent on them puts CHGO’s expenditures on elections above the 50% 

putative threshold for political committee status.4

Secondly, the FEC misrepresents the record of CHGO’s organizational 

purpose, stating that there was “conflicting evidence” on CHGO’s purpose. FEC 

Br. 54. There was no credible conflict. As discussed above, the FEC’s 

investigation revealed internal documents of CHGO declaring that CHGO’s 

singular “goal” was to “win Senate seats.” JA 514–25, 578. The controlling 

 

4 The controlling commissioners entirely failed to “clearly disclos[e] [or] 

adequately sustain[]” their purported concern with the OGC’s assessment of 

CHGO’s express advocacy, and thus those concerns cannot justify dismissal. SEC 

v. Chenery Corp., 318 U.S. 80, 94 (1943). Nor would be it reasonable to interpret 

ads asking voters to “pull the plug on” an elected official and “join” his opponent’s 

fight “in Washington,” JA 443–44, as anything other than as an express call to vote 

against the incumbent and for his challenger.

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 31 of 48
26

commissioners failed to even acknowledge this document or discuss its impact on 

their analysis. See JA 766–70. In contrast, the controlling commissioners cited as 

evidence of CHGO’s mission the statement of CHGO’s attorney, claiming CHGO 

merely sought to “educate the public on matters of economic policy.” JA 766–67. 

That statement lacks all credibility: it is based on CHGO’s purchase of a single 

economic study for $5,000, about 0.1% of CHGO’s expenditures, made only after 

CHGO learned it was under investigation. JA 268–70, 426, 572, 577, 737. 

Notably, the FEC investigation revealed no indication that CHGO did anything 

other than produce and air electoral ads. Considering those facts, it was wholly 

unreasonable for the controlling commissioners to adopt Canfield’s statement of 

purpose and to completely ignore the irrefutable evidence of CHGO’s major (and 

indeed singular) purpose: to influence elections while shielding the identities of its 

contributors. 

Accordingly, no reasonable person could conclude CHGO lacked the major 

purpose to influence congressional elections. As such, any “contested issues of 

law” related CHGO’s case were irrelevant to the question of whether CHGO 

violated the FECA, and those “contested questions” could not justify the 

controlling commissioners’ refusal to find reason to believe CHGO was and is a 

political committee required to disclose its contributors. 

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27

In sum, the cited legal bases for dismissal—the running of the statute of 

limitations, the “defunct” status of CHGO, and remaining uncertainties about how 

to treat funds with which CHGO’s agents absconded upon learning of the FEC 

investigation—do not justify dismissal. CREW is not required to show that, by 

law, the FEC must enforce, it need only show that the stated reasons for 

nonenforcement are unreasonable. CREW has done that here, and therefore the 

dismissal was contrary to law.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, and the reasons stated in CREW’s opening brief, 

CREW respectfully requests that the Court reverse the decision of the district 

court, declare that the FEC’s dismissal of a case based solely on its desire to 

preserve resources is contrary to law within the meaning of the FECA, declare the 

dismissal below was contrary to law, and direct summary judgment for CREW. 

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28

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Stuart C. McPhail

STUART C. McPHAIL

smcphail@citizensforethics.org

(D.C. Bar. No. 1032529)

ADAM J. RAPPAPORT

arappaport@citizensforethics.org

(D.C. Bar No. 479866)

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in 

Washington

455 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Sixth Floor

Washington, D.C. 20001

Telephone: (202) 408-5565

Fax: (202) 588-5020

Counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and 

Ethics in Washington and Melanie Sloan

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 34 of 48
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

1. This document complies with the type-volume limit of Fed. R. App. P. 

32(a)(7)(B)) because, excluding the parts of the document exempted by Fed. 

R. App. P. 32(f) and Circuit Rule 32(e)(1):

[ X ] this document contains [6,307] words, or

[ ] this brief uses a monospaced typeface and contains [state the number of] lines 

of text.

2. This document complies with the typeface requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 

32(a)(5) and the type-style requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(6) because:

[ X ] this document has been prepared in a proportionally spaced typeface using 

Microsoft Word 2016 in 14pt Times New Roman; or

[ ] this document has been prepared in a monospaced typeface using [state name 

and version of word-processing program] with [state number of characters 

per inch and name of type style].

Dated: August 10, 2017 /s/ Stuart C. McPhail

Counsel for Appellants

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 35 of 48
CERTIFICATE OF FILING AND SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this 10th day of August, 2017, I caused this Reply 

Brief of Appellants to be filed electronically with the Clerk of the Court using the 

CM/ECF System, which will send notice of such filing to the following registered 

CM/ECF users:

Jacob Siler

Kevin Andrew Deeley

Greg J. Mueller

Harry Jacobs Summers

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

999 E street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20463

(202) 694-1650

Counsel for Appellee

I further certify that on this 10th day of August, 2017, I caused the required 

copies of the Reply Brief of Appellants to be hand filed with the Clerk of the 

Court.

/s/ Stuart C. McPhail

Counsel for Appellants

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 36 of 48
ADDENDUM

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 37 of 48
Add. 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Addendum Page

Unpublished Order of

The Honorable Joyce Hens Green

Re: Denying Defendant’s Motion for Relief from Judgment

filed September 11, 2000........................................................................Add. 1

Excerpts of Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment

filed March 1, 2016.................................................................................Add. 6

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 38 of 48
Case 1:96-cv-02184-JHG Document 75 Filed 09/11/00 Page 1 of 5

Add. 1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

FILED 

DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL SEP 1 1 2000 

CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, NANCY MAYER wt!IITINGTON, CLERK 

U S DISTRtCT COURT 

Plaintiff, 

Civil Action No. 96-2184 (JHG) 

v. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION, 

Defendant. 

ORDER 

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's ("DSCC") filed administrative 

complaints with the Federal Election Commission's ("FEC"), alleging that the National 

Republican Senatorial Committee ("NRSC") had committed violations of campaign 

spending laws. Subsequently the DSCC filed an action in this Court, and on May 30, 

1997, this Court held that the FEC' s failure to take meaningful action within a reasonable 

time frame with respect to the DSCC's administrative complaints was contrary to law. 

The FEC appealed the judgment, and our Court of Appeals remanded the case for further 

consideration of the issue of standing. On October 18 this Court found that the DSCC 

had standing, and ordered that the May 30 order remain in effect. The October 18 order 

allowed the DSCC to proceed with a civil action against the NRSC, to remedy the 

.. 11 

T~ 

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Case 1:96-cv-02184-JHG Document 75 Filed 09/11/00 Page 2 of 5

Add. 2

violation alleged in the underlying administrative complaint. 1 The FEC again appealed. 

However, before the appeal could be heard, the FEC completed its proceedings on the 

underlying administrative complaint, and entered into a conciliation agreement with the 

NRSC. After being notified of the conciliation agreement, the DSCC filed a notice of 

dismissal in its action against the NRSC. In the appeal that was pending at that time, the 

DSCC filed a motion requesting that the appeal be dismissed as moot, and the FEC filed 

a motion that this Court's decisions be vacated. The Court of Appeals granted the 

unopposed motion to dismiss, and on the court's own motion, the case was remanded for 

consideration of the motion for vacatur as a motion for relief from judgment. After 

thorough consideration, this Court declines to grant relief from her earlier judgments. 

The FEC moved for vacatur in reliance on United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 

340 U.S. 36, 39 (1950), which describes the "established practice" of dealing with a case 

which has become moot pending appeal by reversing or vacating the judgment below 

and remanding it with a direction to dismiss. In remanding the motion, our Court of 

Appeals cited U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall Partnership, 513 U.S. 18 

(1994 ). In that case, the court indicated that appellate courts should vacate a lower 

court's decision where such decision has become moot due to "circumstances 

unattributable to any of the parties," or the unilateral action of the prevailing party. !d. at 

23 (internal quotation and citation omitted). However, the court held that a joint 

1 The DSCC filed its action against the NRSC on June 30, 1997, but that suit was stayed 

pending the outcome of the FEC's appeal of this Court's May 30, 1997 order. 

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Case 1:96-cv-02184-JHG Document 75 Filed 09/11/00 Page 3 of 5

Add. 3

responsibility for rendering the case moot (in that case, settlement) did not permit 

vacatur. Joint responsibility was insufficient because the court placed the burden for 

demonstrating the equitable entitlement to vacatur squarely on the petitioner for vacatur. 

The court did suggest that a court of appeals could remand a case with instructions for 

the district court to consider the request for vacatur pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 60(b). The Court of Appeals has done so in this case, therefore this Court will 

consider the request for vacatur under the standard applicable to a Rule 60(b) motion. 

Rule 60(b) permits the court to relieve a party from a final judgment for a variety 

of reasons, including a catch-all "any other reason justifying relief from the operation of 

the judgment." Rule 60(b)(6). Most pertinent to this case is Rule 60(b)(5), which 

permits relief if "the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior 

judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no 

longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application." 

The FEC argued that it was the DSCC's dismissal of its private cause of action, 

not the FEC's entrance into a conciliation agreement with the NRSC, that mooted the 

appeal. 2 After the conciliation agreement had been entered but before the DSCC 

dropped its suit against the NRSC, the FEC filed a Notice of a New Development 

arguing that the case was not moot. It reasserted the same arguments in its motion for 

vacatur, asserting that the DSCC's private cause of action was dependant on the 

2 Neither party submitted arguments regarding relief from judgment under Rule 60(b ), 

therefore the Court's interpretation of the parties' positions is drawn from their submissions to 

the Court of Appeal. 

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Case 1:96-cv-02184-JHG Document 75 Filed 09/11/00 Page 4 of 5

Add. 4

judgment on appeal, and that the private cause of action "represented a continuing 

incursion on the Commission's exclusive jurisdiction to enforce the Act." 

The DSCC contended that the FEC mooted the appeal by complying with this 

Court's order, and resolving the administrative complaint. The DSCC also argued that 

the FEC could have protected its exclusive jurisdiction to enforce the act by raising that 

issue in the context of the DSCC' s litigation against the NRSC. The FEC responded that 

the conciliation agreement did not constitute compliance with this Court's Order because 

it was not entered in response to the Order, it did not address all of the alleged violations 

or provide all the relief requested in the DSCC's complaint against the NRSC, and the 

FEC' s action was delayed long past the 30 day time period this Court gave for 

compliance. The FEC argues that its repeated attempts to appeal this Court's Orders 

should not be thwarted by the DSCC's decision to drop its suit against the NRSC. 

The Court finds that the equitable standard described in U.S. Bancorp is also a 

useful guideline in making a decision under Rule 60(b ). The FEC has not met its burden 

to show that the DSCC was exclusively responsible for mooting the appeal. The 

combination of the conciliation agreement and the dismissal of the DSCC' s suit against 

the NRSC clearly mooted the appeal, but it is at least a possibility that the FEC' s 

entrance into a conciliation agreement would have mooted the appeal by itself. Relief 

under Rule 60(b) is discretionary, and this Court is not convinced that equity demands 

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Case 1:96-cv-02184-JHG Document 75 Filed 09/11/00 Page 5 of 5

Add. 5

relief in this instance. No relief from judgment will be granted. It is therefore 

ORDERED that, considering the motion for vacatur as a motion for relief from 

judgment, the motion is denied. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

September 11, 2000 

'JOYCE HENS GREEN 

United States District Judge 

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 43 of 48
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

 

 ) 

CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ) 

ETHICS IN WASHINGTON, et al., ) 

 ) 

 Plaintiffs, ) Civ. No. 14-1419 (CRC) 

 ) 

 v. ) ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED

 ) 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION, ) MOTION FOR SUMMARY 

 ) JUDGMENT 

 Defendant, ) 

 ) 

AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK, ) 

 ) 

 Intervenor-Defendant. ) 

 ) 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 

Defendant Federal Election Commission (“Commission”) respectfully cross-moves this 

Court for an order (1) granting summary judgment to the Commission pursuant to Rule 56 of the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Civil Rule 7(h), and (2) denying plaintiffs’ summary 

judgment motion (Docket No. 33). In support of this motion, the Commission is filing a 

Memorandum in Support of Its Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and in Opposition to 

Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment and a Proposed Order. The Commission requests oral 

argument on this motion. 

 Respectfully submitted, 

Daniel A. Petalas (D.C. Bar No. 467908) 

Acting General Counsel 

dpetalas@fec.gov 

Lisa J. Stevenson (D.C. Bar No. 457628) 

Deputy General Counsel — Law 

lstevenson@fec.gov 

Erin Chlopak (D.C. Bar No. 496370) 

Acting Assistant General Counsel 

echlopak@fec.gov 

Greg J. Mueller (D.C. Bar No. 462840) 

Attorney 

gmueller@fec.gov 

Case 1:14-cv-01419-CRC Document 36 Filed 03/01/16 Page 1 of 60

Add. 6

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 44 of 48
2

Kevin Deeley 

Acting Associate General Counsel 

kdeeley@fec.gov 

March 1, 2016 

/s/ Charles Kitcher 

Charles Kitcher (D.C. Bar No. 986226) 

Attorney 

ckitcher@fec.gov 

 

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

999 E Street, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20463 

(202) 694-1650 

Case 1:14-cv-01419-CRC Document 36 Filed 03/01/16 Page 2 of 60

Add. 7

USCA Case #17-5049 Document #1688161 Filed: 08/10/2017 Page 45 of 48
49

regulation (which is not before this Court) has just been upheld by the Court of Appeals. Van 

Hollen, 2016 WL 278200. 

Plaintiffs’ disclosure argument is also overstated. AJS and AAN have filed numerous 

FEC reports detailing their independent expenditures and electioneering communications. See 

supra pp. 11-13. As the Seventh Circuit recognized, even groups “whose major purpose is not 

express advocacy — are not completely immune from disclosure and disclaimer rules for their 

occasional spending on express election advocacy.” Barland, 751 F.3d at 839. 

D. The Dismissals Were Also a Reasonable Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion 

Finally, the challenged dismissal decisions are independently justified by the 

Commission’s broad prosecutorial discretion. AR 1460-61 n.142; AR 1712-13 n.137; see Akins, 

524 U.S. at 25 (acknowledging that agencies like the FEC “often have discretion about whether 

or not to take a particular action” and observing that the FEC’s “prosecutorial discretion” might 

have justified dismissal in that case, even if it “agreed with [complainants’] view of the law”). 

The Commission “clearly has a broad grant of discretionary power in determining 

whether to investigate a claim.” Common Cause v. FEC, 655 F. Supp. 619, 623 (D.D.C. 1986), 

rev’d on other grounds, 842 F.2d 436 (D.C. Cir. 1988); see also DCCC, 831 F.2d at 1133-34 

(discussing FEC’s prosecutorial discretion). In Orloski, the D.C. Circuit concluded that the FEC 

is entitled to decide not to begin an investigation based on a “subjective evaluation of claims.” 

795 F.2d at 168. “It is not for the judiciary to ride roughshod over agency procedures or sit as a 

board of superintendance [sic] directing where limited agency resources will be devoted. 

[Courts] are not here to run the agencies.” FEC v. Rose, 806 F.2d 1081, 1091 (D.C. Cir. 1986); 

see also La Botz v. FEC, 61 F. Supp. 3d 21, 33 (D.D.C. 2014) (sustaining the Commission’s 

decision not to prosecute based upon its “considerable” discretion); Stark, 683 F. Supp. at 840 

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(“[I]t is . . . surely committed to the Commission’s discretion to determine where and when to 

commit its investigative resources”). 

In Heckler v. Chaney, 470 U.S. 821 (1985), the Supreme Court rearticulated the bases for 

an agency’s discretion not to prosecute or enforce. Id. at 831 (collecting cases). It observed that 

such “discretion is attributable in no small part to the general unsuitability for judicial review of 

agency decisions to refuse enforcement,” and noted that such decisions “often involve[] a 

complicated balancing of a number of factors which are peculiarly within [the agency’s] 

expertise.” Id. Agencies may consider not only “whether a violation has occurred,” but also, 

inter alia, the best use of agency resources, the agency’s likelihood of prevailing if it pursues the 

violation, whether the requested enforcement action “best fits the agency’s overall policies,” and, 

indeed, whether the agency has enough resources to undertake the action at all.” Id. 

Here, both controlling statements noted the FEC’s prosecutorial discretion as discrete 

bases for deciding not to find reason to believe in the AJS and AAN matters. (AR 1463 & n.153; 

AR 1716 & n.153.) Specifically, the Commissioners expressed concern that in light of the 

similarities perceived between the approach recommended by the agency’s in-house staff and the 

approach rejected in Barland, “constitutional doubts raised . . . militate[d] in favor of cautious 

exercise of our prosecutorial discretion.” (AR 1460-61 n.142; AR 1712-13 n.137.) It was 

clearly reasonable for Commissioners to decline to pursue enforcement based on the analysis 

urged by plaintiffs here given the recent rejection of that approach by a federal Court of Appeals. 

The Commission’s dismissal was thus a reasonable exercise of its broad prosecutorial discretion. 

CONCLUSION 

For the foregoing reasons, the Court should grant the Commission’s cross-motion for 

summary judgment and deny plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. 

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 Respectfully submitted, 

Daniel A. Petalas (D.C. Bar No. 467908) 

Acting General Counsel 

dpetalas@fec.gov 

Lisa J. Stevenson (D.C. Bar No. 457628) 

Deputy General Counsel — Law 

lstevenson@fec.gov 

Kevin Deeley 

Acting Associate General Counsel 

kdeeley@fec.gov 

March 1, 2016 

Erin Chlopak (D.C. Bar No. 496370) 

Acting Assistant General Counsel 

echlopak@fec.gov 

Greg J. Mueller (D.C. Bar No. 462840) 

Attorney 

gmueller@fec.gov 

/s/ Charles Kitcher 

Charles Kitcher (D.C. Bar No. 986226) 

Attorney 

ckitcher@fec.gov 

 

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

999 E Street, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20463 

(202) 694-1650 

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