Independent Expenditure - What Defines Involvement?

What Defines Involvement?

Coordinated involvement was debated during the 2012 election season. It was even lampooned by TV satirist Stephen Colbert who created the Colbert Super Pac. The goal of his satire appeared to have been to demonstrate that coordination was so obvious it couldn't be overlooked unless someone intentionally tried to pretend it didn't exist. Some non-authorized political action committees were managed by close associates, former staff, or a candidates family member.

According to Federal definitions an agent is someone who has "actual authority, either express or implied" to do one or more of a list of actions. According to that list, an otherwise independent expenditure could be invalidated if, an "agent" does something as simple as suggesting an advertisement be made. To prevent this, some groups claimed they sequester staff months before an election.

Additionally, an organization making an independent expenditure must include a federally mandated disclaimer identifying the person or organization paying for the communication and stating that the communication was not authorized by a candidate or candidate’s committee.