Free Speech For People and Campaign for Accountability filed suit against the FEC today over its failure to investigate a now five-year-old complaint regarding Russia’s financial involvement in the 2016 election and contact between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.

“Coordination” is a specific legal standard under the Federal Election Campaign Act and the FEC’s regulations, which does not require an agreement between the parties. The investigation that the FEC was asked to conduct would therefore have been distinct from the Mueller investigation, which focused on “conspiracy” and the higher burden of criminal offenses. The organizations argue that the FEC’s nearly five-year delay in acting on their initial complaint was contrary to the law and deprived the plaintiffs and the American public of vital information regarding campaign financing in 2016 and potential use of online platforms to corrupt our democracy–information that was not revealed by the Mueller investigation or other investigations of the 2020 election.

“Even today, despite multiple investigations, critical information about the money spent in the 2016 election is still unknown,” said Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech For People. “How much did the Russian