Brian Slodysko and Jonathan J. Cooper
1/24/24
(Associated Press) The complaints, filed by the groups End Citizens United and Accountable.US, are part of a broader Democratic effort to ramp up legal scrutiny and elicit public scorn for No Labels as it teases a possible White House run by an as-of-yet unannounced ticket that many Democrats worry will play electoral spoiler.
“We are continuing to work every single avenue with our partners to hold (No Labels) accountable legally, to expose them publicly and to make sure they are playing by the same rules as everyone else,” said Tiffany Muller, the president of End Citizens United. “I don’t think it’s any secret that No Labels is a threat to our democracy if they run a third-party (candidate). That’s going to siphon off votes from President Biden and reelect Donald Trump.”
Under a widely held interpretation of IRS rules, political nonprofit groups are limited to making political activity 50% of their activity. End Citizens United argues in its complaint that No Labels appears to primarily be engaged in political work “to oppose the candidacies of Joe Biden and Donald Trump.” It also argues that No Labels runs afoul of a separate provision against the activities of the group primarily benefiting a private party — in this case, No Labels. End Citizens United also plans to forward the complaint to authorities in states where No Labels operates, hoping that local officials may consider pursuing the matter.