FEC drops Forbes lawsuit

Associated Press, February 19, 1999

WASHINGTON -- Writing a column is not the same as writing a check, the Federal Election Commission has decided.

In papers filed yesterday in US District Court in New York City, the commission agreed to dismiss its suit against publisher Steve Forbes. The commission sued Forbes last September, contending that the columns he wrote for his magazine were illegal contributions to his 1996 presidential campaign. Forbes may run again in 2000.

The FEC voted, 4-2, in closed session Dec. 9 to dismiss the suit, with Democrat Karl Sandstrom, a new member, joining the three Republican commissioners.

"The reasoning that led to the Forbes suit holds that once you declare as a candidate for office, you leave your First Amendment rights behind," said David Mason, a Republican commissioner. "A substantially new set of commissioners has rejected that reasoning."

Forbes noted that his columns did not specifically urge a vote for or against any candidate, including himself, and therefore could not be regulated by the commission. Among the topics discussed were abortion, taxes, term limits, and interleague baseball.

"This case represented an egregious and unconstitutional effort to restrict and control basic political expression and freedom of speech and press," Forbes said yesterday.

The commission had tried to reach a settlement with Forbes over the issue, then went to court charging Forbes Inc. with making illegal corporate contributions, and Forbes's presidential campaign with failing to report the contributions.

Forbes spent $38 million of his own money on the campaign. The commission valued the columns at $94,900.

Forbes's company issued its own statement yesterday praising the commission's decision.

"We vehemently objected to the commission's assertions that we violated the federal election laws and feel vindicated that the commissioners have terminated this matter in our favor," the company said.

Forbes is president and editor in chief of the magazine, but took a leave of absence during his campaign.

Some media critics questioned during the campaign whether Forbes should be writing the column while running for president, calling it a conflict of interest.

And a few of Forbes's earlier columns were attacked by one of his GOP primary opponents, Senator Phil Gramm of Texas. Gramm criticized him for endorsing Senator Edward M. Kennedy's national health care plan in 1973 and said other Forbes columns supported allowing gays in the military, liberalizing the nation's immigration laws, and raising the gasoline tax to $1.50 a gallon.