Clinton ally files FEC ethics complaint against Sanders: report

A group founded by longtime Hillary Clinton confidant David Brock has filed three ethics complaints with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Bernie Sanders and his allies.

The American Democracy Legal Fund (ADLF) accused Sanders’s Democratic presidential campaign of accepting more money from individual donors than allowed under federal law, MSNBC reported.

{mosads}The group also accused the Vermont senator’s camp of failing to include a proper disclosure on a Facebook ad it ran after the New Hampshire primary last month.

And it alleged a pro-Sanders super-PAC is improperly using his name and engaging in illegal coordination.

The ADLF’s filings are its first targeting of a Democrat since the organization’s founding in 2014, MSNBC reported. The group’s co-founder is Brad Woodhouse, who is also the president of a pro-Clinton super-PAC called Correct the Record.

Sanders’s campaign on Wednesday said the ethics complaints had no merit.

“Just one day after the Clinton campaign said we needed to change our tone, the leaders of their coordinated super PAC, which is funded by millions from Wall Street, filed baseless and frivolous complaints with the FEC,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said. “Tells you all you need to know.”

A top aide for Clinton on Tuesday suggested that Sanders must change “his tone” before she would meet him for another debate.

“This is a man who said he’d never run a negative ad ever,” chief Clinton strategist Joel Benenson said on CNN. “He’s now running them, they’re planning to run more. Let’s see the tone of the campaign he wants to run before we get to any other questions.”

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon suggested later that night Clinton is “perfectly willing” to meet Sanders in New York for another debate.

The FEC has previously warned the Sanders campaign about excessive contributions.