Groups press for super-PAC ads to carry Bloomberg’s name

A trio of transparency groups want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require Michael Bloomberg’s name to appear at the end of TV ads that are paid for by his super-PAC, Independence USA PAC.

The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation filed a complaint with the FCC against multiple TV stations, which declined to require the former New York City mayor’s group to make the extra disclosures last month. 

{mosads}“Efforts to obscure the true funding of political messages have recently proliferated as individuals increasingly turn to political action committees with opaque or misleading names to hide funders’ identities,” the groups wrote in their complaint. 

A similar complaint aimed at ads funded by billionaire climate advocate Tom Steyer was rejected by the FCC last year. 

The push can be seen as a way to try to force the FCC’s hand in requiring increased campaign finance disclosures under existing law — something for which the commission does not have an appetite at the moment.  

Democrats have also filed legislation that would force the FCC to increase its disclosures requirements, but it has no chance of advancing in the Republican controlled Congress. 

A section of communications law requires ads to “fully and fairly disclose the true identity of the person or persons, or corporation, committee, association or other unincorporated group” that bought the airtime. Current rules require tags at the end of TV ads that reveal the group that paid for the airtime. But critics believe the true sponsors of the ads are the major donors who are funding those groups.  

The groups believe the ads should have read, “Paid for by Michael Bloomberg,” rather than “Paid for by Independence USA PAC.”

The Bloomberg ads referenced Thursday targeted attorneys general around the country over their support for a federal lawsuit to block the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. 

The transparency groups argue that the ads should make clear that Bloomberg is responsible for the ads because he provides 100 percent of the funding to the super-PAC. Even if the stations did not know Bloomberg funded the ads, the transparency groups sent a letter to stations pointing it out. 

When the FCC rejected the complaint related to Steyer last year, it expressed the need to balance “reasonable diligence obligations of broadcasters in identifying the sponsor of advertisements with the sensitive First Amendment interests.”

The FCC said the decision could have been different if the groups actually contacted the station, so that is what they did this time around.