Detroit News: FEC Dismisses Complaint Against Kid Rock Over His Fake Senate Campaign

Washington — The Federal Election Commission by a 3-1 vote has dismissed a complaint about Kid Rock’s fake U.S. Senate campaign in Michigan, overruling the recommendation of the commission’s career staff attorneys.

The watchdog group Common Cause had alleged that Kid Rock, aka Robert Ritchie,  violated federal election law last year by acting like a Senate candidate while failing to register his candidacy or comply with rules on contributions and spending. …

Paul S. Ryan, the vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause, stressed the FEC didn’t say Ritchie never broke the law, only that his case is not worth pursuing.

“That is not the vindication that Kid Rock or his lawyers would perhaps like the public to believe. There was no vindication here,” Ryan said.

Hunter and Petersen’s reasoned that Ritchie was covered by an exception to the law for celebrity parody, but “there is no exception to the law,” Ryan said.

True celebrity parody would be comedian Stephen Colbert’s 2012 announcement that he was running for the United States of South Carolina — an office that doesn’t exist, Ryan said.

“A lot of people considered Donald Trump’s campaign to be celebrity parody in its early stages, and the Republicans don’t acknowledge that in any way,” Ryan added. “It’s just a very weak basis for them not to pursue enforcement here.” …

Common Cause had contended that Ritchie received or spent more than $5,000 through the purchase or sale of the Senate “campaign” merchandise.

That would have triggered the requirement under federal election law that candidates for office register with the FEC within 15 days of surpassing the $5,000 threshold for contributions or spending.

And under FEC guidelines, authorizing a statement referring to themselves as a candidates (like “Smith for Senate”) indicates individuals have decided to become candidates, as opposed to “testing the waters” for a campaign.

The FEC’s career staff attorneys cited the regulations in finding that Ritchie’s “Kid Rock for US Senate” merchandise triggered candidacy. …

Ryan of Common Cause said he found that ironic considering the FEC isn’t enforcing the law against candidates who do run.

He noted a 2015 complaint he filed against former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush alleging more than $100 million worth of campaign finance violations when Bush was exploring a run for president. That complaint is still pending before the commission, Ryan said.

“The Republican commissioners’ explanations for why they aren’t actually enforcing the laws with respect to Kid Rock really ring hollow,” he said.