Critics call for FEC investigation of Rupert Murdoch leak of Biden ads to Jared Kushner

[winetourdriver01]

A progressive PAC that advocates for campaign reform has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing that Fox Corporation head Rupert Murdoch broke the law when he shared Joe Biden's campaign ads scheduled to air on Fox with Donald Trump's son-in-law and then White House adviser Jared Kushner, the group said Friday.

Read more:

https://www.rawstory.com/biden-ad-fox-news/

[cstanleytech]

1. Makes me wonder if Fox was engaged in clandestinely providing such assistance to Bush as well.

[drray23]

2. which likely means that they also leaked the questions

for the presidential debates they were hosting ahead of time to Trump.

[crickets]

3. Good! K&R

[Celerity]

4. link to the actual complaint

https://www.scribd.com/document/629221690/Fox-News-Biden-Ad-Info-FEC-Complaint-Mar-2023-1#

excerpt

Here, Fox Corporation was not acting as a press entity when Murdoch provided the Committee with the Biden advertisements. Murdoch’s actions fail both parts of the Commission’s two factor test for whether Fox Corporation was acting in its legitimate press function. First, the Biden advertisements had not aired at the time that Murdoch provided information about it to the Committee and, therefore, the material was not available to the general public. Second, Murdoch provided the Biden advertisements and information to the Committee through a private, and secret, direct communication. This “distribution” is diametrically opposed to Fox Corporation’s regular press activity broadcasting news programming through television and radio outlets and online publications. Murdoch’s secret conveyance of the Biden advertisement is even less like press activity than a cablecasting company sending campaign flyers in its bills – and neither can be protected by the press Exemption.

Fox Corporation, through Murdoch, appears to have engaged in the exact type of campaign activity to which the Commission has repeatedly affirmed the press exemption does not apply. Therefore, Fox Corporation cannot try to exploit the press exemption to avoid the consequences of making an illegal corporate in-kind contribution.