By then the damage against the Christian Coalition will have been done. Experts predict many churches which distribute the Coalition's voter guides will refuse to do so out of fear of losing their own tax-exempt status. Even a baseless lawsuit can have chilling effects. A non-political FEC would have waited until after the election before filing suit. These allegations all date back at least a couple of years.
None requires immediate attention.
But by filing when it did, the FEC made the Christian Coalition's alleged illegalities an issue in this election cycle. That's neither right nor fair considering the FEC's likelihood of failure. This seems like an end-run by the FEC to punish a group it doesn't like before the courts tell them it cannot. A special irony lies in the fact that at the very moment the FEC conducts its heavy-handed assault against speech and ideas it finds distasteful, organized labor is publicly bragging about doing what the Christian Coalition is merely accused of. According to Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, that figure only represents direct contributions.