Appeals Court issues opinion in CREW, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 19-5161)

WASHINGTON – The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday issued a per curiam order in CREW, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 19-5161), denying Plaintiffs-Appellants’ petition for a rehearing en banc.

In 2014, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint alleging that New Models, which was organized in 2000 and operated under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, had failed to register and report as a political committee after satisfying the statutory threshold in 2012. In November 2017, the Commission did not have the requisite four affirmative votes to find reason to believe a violation occurred. CREW and Noah Bookbinder filed a suit against the Commission in January 2018. The following year, the United States District for the District of Columbia denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and granted the Commission’s motion for summary judgment. In April 2021, a panel of the D.C. Circuit affirmed the District Court’s summary judgment ruling. Plaintiffs-appellants filed their petition for a rehearing en banc in June 2021.