Restore Our Future Super PAC Illegally Coordinates with the Romney Campaign

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Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer

According to published reports, the candidate-specific Super PAC supporting the presidential campaign of former Governor Mitt Romney, Restore Our Future PAC, has paid to broadcast a campaign ad prepared by the 2008 Romney for President campaign.

Under federal law, any such re-broadcast of a Romney campaign ad by the Super PAC would be a contribution by the Super PAC to the Romney campaign and, if more than $5,000 was spent, it would be an illegal in-kind contribution by the Super PAC.

FEC regulations are clear that “the financing of the dissemination, distribution or republication, in whole or in part, of any broadcast…of campaign materials prepared by the candidate…shall be considered a contribution for the purposes of contribution limitations and reporting responsibilities of the person making the expenditure.”

Published reports indicate that Restore Our Future PAC has broadcast an ad which is identical to a 2007 ad broadcast by the Romney campaign, except for the tag line.  According to these reports, the only difference in the two broadcasts is that the 2007 version closed with the statement “I’m Mitt Romney and I approved this message,” while the new version ends with “Brought to you by Restore Our Future.”

Any expenditure in excess of $5,000 by Restore Our Future for broadcasting this ad would be an illegal in-kind contribution to the Romney campaign. 

Democracy 21 already has asked the Justice Department to investigate more broadly whether Restore Our Future has engaged in illegal coordination with the Romney campaign.  Restore Our Future is headed by former campaign operatives of the 2008 Romney campaign.  The Department of Justice should investigate this latest example of coordination as part of the broader investigation we requested.

In letters to the Justice Department dated January 10, February 21, 2012, Democracy 21 has called on the Justice Department to investigate whether the Restore Our Future PAC, and other presidential candidate-specific Super PACs operating in the 2012 campaign, are illegally coordinating with their respective campaigns through the web of connections between the operatives running these PACs, the donors to the PACs and campaigns, the candidates themselves, and agents of the candidates.

The January 13 and February 15, 2012 letters detail the broader case of why we believe that Restore Our Future is engaged in illegal coordination with the Romney campaign.