A conservative legal group has accused billionaire investor George Soros of violating federal election law. The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) on Tuesday filed a 41-page complaint against Soros with the Federal Election Commission, alleging "extensive apparent violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act." The NLPC alleges that Soros failed to disclose a series of expenditures stemming from his October 2004 speaking tour to several swing states, where he called for the defeat of President Bush. Soros is a major financier of liberal causes. "This is possibly the largest off-the-books independent expenditure ever run. It's especially important that the FEC look at it, because [his media tour] occurred the month before a very close election in key swing states," Ken Boehm, chairman of the NLPC, told Cybercast News Service. NLPC is alleging that Soros did not file the transportation and administrative costs associated with his October political media campaign with the FEC. The NLPC says those costs included telephone, photocopying, commercial press release services, subsidies for groups hosting Soros, and press luncheons. Soros also allegedly failed to disclose the cost "to purchase or rent the mailing lists required for the two million-piece mailing of a brochure entitled, 'Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush,' according to NLPC. "Disclosure is the absolute heart of campaign finance law, and Soros' anti-Bush campaign could have potentially shifted the outcome of the presidential election," Boehm added.
Boehm also accused Soros of 'hypocrisy.' "Since Soros has spent $18 million promoting campaign finance law, it's the height of hypocrisy for him to run an off-the-books campaign," Boehm said. "Soros has bankrolled the groups that have lobbied for limits on political giving and for disclosure. But he apparently believes that the law should only apply to other people, and not to himself," he added. The NLPC complaint also named as respondents Fenton Communications, which helped promote Soros' media campaign; and two non-profit groups that hosted Soros speeches: The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia and the Metropolitan Club of Columbus, Ohio. Several calls to Soros' Open Society Institute, a part of Soros Foundation network, seeking comment were not returned as of press time. Calls to Fenton Communications were also not returned by press time.