In response to the FEC’s announcement of an agreement resolving Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)’s complaints against Newt Gingrich and the Newt 2012 presidential campaign, CREW Communications Director Jordan Libowitz released the following statement:

“In 2011, CREW filed an FEC complaint against Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign alleging that the Gingrich campaign hid $42,000 in personal payments to Gingrich.  Today, in 2016, the FEC announced that it had arrived at an agreement with the Gingrich campaign under which neither Gingrich nor the campaign will face any civil penalties.  Instead, Gingrich was only required to file an amended report and terminate his presidential campaign committee—a campaign he ended in April 2012, four years ago.

The FEC’s General Counsel recommended action be taken in January 2013, but the FEC did not consider the complaint for more than two years after that, without any reason for the delay.  When the Commission did finally take up the case, partisan deadlock prevented any investigation of the serious potential violations identified by the General Counsel’s Office.  It is clear at this point that the three Republican FEC commissioners have no interest in actually enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act.  We look forward to reading about the slaps on the wrist they dole out for serious violations in this election cycle sometime in the 2020s.”