"Fahrenheit 9/11 Ban? Ads for Moore's Movie Could Be Stopped on June 30"

The Hill offers this report, which begins: "Michael Moore may be prevented from advertising his controversial new movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” on television or radio after July 30 if the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today accepts the legal advice of its general counsel. At the same time, a Republican-allied 527 soft-money group is preparing to file a complaint against Moore’s film with the FEC for violating campaign-finance law."

It is not clear to me that the general counsel's draft, if adopted, would directly affect Moore. In footnote 4 of the draft, the makers of the documentary in question did not claim a right under the media exemption, nor did they appear to ask for an exception to the electionnering communications rules that the FEC may give under 2 USC 434(f)(3)(B)(iv). So Moore will have some room to argue regardless of what happens at the FEC today.

Posted by Rick Hasen at June 24, 2004 07:11 AM