Washington D.C., Aug 1, 2008 / 04:07 am
A group which says it is trying to expose Sen. Barack Obama’s “radical pro-abortion views and voting record” on Wednesday filed a “pre-emptive” suit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Department of Justice to prevent them from enforcing rules that the group claims hinder its engagement in issue advocacy.
The Richmond, Virginia-based group The Real Truth about Obama (RTAO) is a 527 Group, meaning it is a non-profit “political organization” classified under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. An RTAO statement released on Wednesday said the group was formed to tell Americans the “real truth” about Obama’s political positions, beginning with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s support for legalized abortion.
RTAO has produced a radio ad called “Change,” which reportedly describes Obama’s position on abortion without expressly advocating his election or defeat. The group also has a website but it is not operational due to what the group says are the FEC’s enforcement policies which prohibit it from raising money for the project.
According to the RTAO statement, the group fears it will be deemed a federal Political Action Committee (PAC) because of FEC actions prompted by various issue-advocacy groups active in the 2004 election, such as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The Swift Boat Veterans were fined for failing to register as a federal PAC, though they were only engaged in issue advocacy, RTAO claims.