NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Giffords PAC, the political fundraising arm of the gun control group Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence.
In the complaint, NSSF alleges Giffords PAC and its allies are skirting the FEC’s joint fundraising rules when they solicit funds for both Giffords PAC and their preferred candidates for elected office. Giffords PAC has been using these joint fundraising solicitations to enrich their own antigun agenda, while failing to comply with the FEC’s joint fundraising filing and disclaimer requirements. NSSF is urging the FEC to take action against Giffords PAC, and the candidates with whom they are jointly fundraising, for these violations.
“Giffords PAC has been playing fast and loose with how they are soliciting funds to support themselves and their preferred gun control candidates for elected office,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “The FEC’s joint fundraising rules are clear but Giffords ignores them because they believe they are above accountability. Their fundraising misleads consumers by falsely claiming these joint fundraising solicitations are not authorized by any candidates or their campaign committees. Giffords PAC and these candidates are knowingly ignoring mandatory FEC disclosure requirements.”
Giffords PAC sent fundraising emails in partnership with preferred federal and gubernatorial candidates for office that ask potential donors to “split a donation between my campaign and Giffords PAC…” yet it has failed to properly follow the required FEC joint fundraising procedures. FEC regulations require the appointment of a joint fundraising representative or formation of a joint fundraising committee with the associated campaigns, yet Giffords PAC’s most recent FEC Statement of Organization does not reflect its involvement in any joint fundraising efforts.
Further, these emails soliciting donations stated they were “Paid For By Giffords PAC” and “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.” However, the joint fundraising emails are obviously authorized by candidates. In fact, the emails are signed by candidates and jointly solicit contributions for the campaigns. Those email solicitations sent donors to an ActBlue website that asked donors to support candidates and Giffords antigun agenda. FEC regulations require that mass mailings of 500 or more substantially similar communications include appropriate disclosures, however Giffords PAC has not included appropriate joint fundraising disclosures in either their emails or ActBlue contribution pages, and falsely claim that these communications are not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Giffords PAC has sent these solicitations that enriched their own antigun agenda in coordination with U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.) and Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.).
Giffords PAC and the campaigns are flouting the FEC’s joint fundraising regulations and obscuring how these fundraising efforts are financed. The joint fundraising regulations ensure that each participant pays its own allocable share of fundraising costs based on funds raised. Disclaimer requirements inform the public of who is paying for a communication and whether a candidate is standing behind the communication.
