One of the weekend’s stranger stories was generated by the dumbest legal complaint since Al Franken was sued for using “fair and balanced.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee has filed a seven-page complaint letter with the Federal Elections Commission alleging the hosts of a popular talk radio show have illegally colluded with a Democratic candidate for Congress to oust Rep. David Dreier from office.
According to the complaint, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, hosts of the afternoon John and Ken Show” on KFI, have made unlawful campaign contributions by making repeated on-air appeals for listeners to reject Dreier and elect Cynthia Matthews on Nov. 2.
Further, KFI is accused of violating federal campaign law by paying for broadcasts that endorse the defeat of a federal candidate within 120 days of an election. The John and Ken Show has become nothing but a political diatribe,” states the complaint, which was filed Oct. 14. This behavior is illegal and must be appropriately punished.”
There aren’t a lot of competitive House races out there, and I realize the NRCC is worried about Dreier, but this reeks of desperation. If the Republicans really want to use FEC complaints to make talk-show support for a candidate “illegal,” do you suppose the NRCC will also be filing similar charges against Limbaugh, Liddy, O’Reilly, Hannity, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and the entire Fox News team?
KFI program manager Robin Bertolucci said the station is “extremely confident” the FEC will dismiss the complaint.
I think that’s a safe bet.