The Federal Election Commission dismissed two cases involving allegations of illegal coordination between congressional candidates and outside spending groups after the commissioners deadlocked along party lines regarding whether the cases should be investigated, the FEC announced Feb. 15.One case involved Crossroads GPS, among the most prominent Republican-leaning nonprofit groups involved in recent campaigns. Designated Matter Under Review (MUR) 6368, the case involved allegations that the group’s founder, Republican strategist Karl Rove, illegally coordinated efforts with then-Rep. Roy Blunt’s (R-Mo.) successful 2010 campaign for U.S. Senate.The other case (MUR 6611) involved a super PAC funded by the mother of Laura Ruderman, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in 2012. The case was the FEC’s first consideration of a single-candidate PAC financed by the candidate’s family, according a written statement from three of the commissioners.
UPDATE: I should have also noted that that the article states the following: “In both of the cases, the FEC’s Republican commissioners voted to follow the recommendations of FEC counsel not to pursue enforcement action, according to commission documents.”