FEC dismisses complaint on MoveOn’s “Betray Us” ad

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced Thursday that it has ruled The New York Times did not provide MoveOn.org with a special rate for its 2007 full-page ad critical of Gen. David Petraeus.

The ad, which ran in 2007 and called Petraeus “General Betray Us,” caused a lot of controversy when it first ran, and Democrats were forced to separate themselves from the liberal group.

Conservative commentators also alleged that MoveOn was given a special rate for the ad – evidence of the New York Times’s supposed liberal bias – after a reporter was quoted a higher price for a full-page ad than MoveOn said it paid.

The American Conservative Union (ACU) filed a complaint with the FEC that said this amounted to a corporate contribution.

The FEC said there was no reason to believe that MoveOn was afforded a special rate and that, in fact, it appeared it was given a “usual and normal rate.”

Update: A previous version of this post mistakenly stated that the FEC ruled on the case Thursday. The FEC was merely announcing a ruling that had already been made.