Stephen Colbert Heads to the FEC

See the guy with the nice coif and purple tie, pumping his fist from the steerage of an SUV? That's Stephen Colbert, who just left the Federal Election Commission after filing paperwork for his Colbert Super PAC.

The backstory, told by Ken Vogel, is here .

[H]e is asking the commission whether the airtime and other costs associated with any shows on which he promotes his hypothetical PAC would be considered a contribution from Comedy Central’s parent company, Viacom, or whether they would be exempted from campaign finance rules and disclosure requirements. That so-called media exemption allows newspapers, blogs, radio show hosts and others considered media to urge votes for or against candidates.

If the six-member commission takes Colbert’s request seriously, and decides to grant him wide latitude in using "The Colbert Report" to promote his PAC – both very big ifs – it "could have a sweeping effect. That would be a troubling development," said Paul Ryan, a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit group that pushes for tighter restrictions on money in politics.

I mostly watched the stunt from the crowd; Vogel and a few other reporters followed Colbert inside to track his moves, as he and his lawyer (and former FEC Chairman) Trevor Potter were swooped by a metal detector and introduced to the people who'd take the paperwork. The crowd outside swelled to at least a couple of hundred people; this was not hurt by the fact that the FEC is next to DC's Hard Rock Cafe, which is permanently stuffed with tourists wearing identical T-shirts. When Colbert wrapped up and stood outside the building to speak, every other arm in the crowd zoomed into the air, a camera or smartphone capturing Colbert's faux-populist defense of post-Citizens United campaign law loopholes.

"There's some that don't want you to have a voice!" said Colbert. "There's some who don't want you to have Colbert Super PAC. But you know what? I am not willing to ride on the back of the bus!"

The crowd of college students, unemployed former college students, and people who'd slipped out of work for a few minutes roared with approval. They quieted down as Colbert told a (fake) story about a man named "Ben Robertsonson..son" whose final wish was for Colbert to use his donation.

"Ben gave me $10, and I made a promise to Ben that I would find a way to spend that money," said Colbert. "Will you find a way to help me keep that promise to all the other Bens out there?"

Woooooo!

"God bless you!

"I love you!"

"I will now shake your hands for $1 apiece!"

"What do we get for $20?"

He moved toward his SUV, with dozens of outstretched, dollar-clutching fists marking the path.

(Photo by David Weigel.)

Weigel

Reporting on Politics and Policy

Stephen Colbert Heads to the FEC