Democrats accuse Sen. Roy Blunt of coordinating with super PAC

The Missouri Democratic Party has accused Sen. Roy Blunt of violating federal campaign rules by coordinating his re-election effort with an anti-abortion independent expenditure group, or super PAC.

Blunt’s campaign and the group the senator is alleged to have worked with dismissed the charges as political desperation.

In a complaint filed Monday with the Federal Elections Commission under the name of a Columbia resident, Linda Lou Brown, the Democrats contend the incumbent Republican asked the president of the Susan B. Anthony List to put more money toward the Missouri Senate race.

The complaint sites a CNN story that suggested that both Donald Trump and Jason Kander, the Missouri secretary of state and Democrat in a tight race to unseat Blunt, could benefit from their self-styled campaigns as political outsiders.

That article posted online Oct. 14 states, without attribution, that: “Blunt called Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser last week to raise more money, and the PAC for the conservative anti-abortion group is planning to spend $500,000 in the state on in-person, digital and mail outreach.”

Independent expenditure-only committees, or super PACs, can raise unlimited money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals. They can use those funds to advocate for or against political candidates. But federal law prohibits super PACs from donating money directly to political candidates — or coordinating with them or their campaigns.

It would be legal for Blunt to ask Dannenfelser for a contribution. Any American can give up to $2,700 from personal funds to a candidate for federal office. But the law would not allow him to coordinate the work of her super PAC or its spending with his campaign.

In the complaint to the FEC, Brown charges that “the full extent of Blunt’s backchannel communications is not known — but his direct communications with the super PAC were apparently clear enough for” it to announce plans to put $500,000 into the last stretch of the Missouri race. A spokesman for the Missouri Democratic Party said it asked Brown to file the complaint.

The Susan B. Anthony List has a super PAC called Women Speak Out. A spokeswoman for the group dismissed the charges made in the complaint.

“This is nothing but a last minute political play,” Mallory Quigley, a spokeswoman for Susan B. Anthony List, said in an email. “Women Speak Out PAC’s canvassing and advertising efforts in support of Sen. Blunt have been conducted independent of the senator’s campaign and there is no truth to these politically-motivated allegations of ‘coordination.’ ”

A Blunt campaign spokesman said much the same.

“These false assertions have absolutely no merit whatsoever and are simply a last-ditch effort by the Kander campaign and Missouri Democrats to distract from the real issues Missourians care about in this race,” Tate O’Connor said in an email. “The Blunt campaign and Roy Blunt scrupulously follow all campaign finance laws including restrictions on coordination with outside groups.”

In a news release about the complaint, the Missouri Democratic Party said: “The FEC must investigate this troublesome appearance of coordination between the Blunt campaign and Women Speak Out.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Democrats accuse Sen. Roy Blunt of coordinating with super PAC."