Federal Election Commission Drops Charges Made Against Long is Wrong by Billy Long Operative

A member of Billy Long's campaign played some dirty politics during the campaign in hopes of silencing the Long is Wrong blog that was critical of Billy Long's congressional campaign and worked to expose the hypocrisy of Billy Long. Andrew Bruner, who worked in the Long campaign, filed the fraudulent charges with the Federal Election Commission, going out of his way to lie about those responsible at Long is Wrong and a 17-year-old blogger that had nothing to do with it. That's right, Billy Long's campaign filed a Federal Election Commission an ethics complaint against a 17-year-old boy.

Those charges have been dropped citing the Federal Election Commission found no reason to believe that I and Jacob Lawrence violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as I knew they would be. Both Jacob and I used Democrat Tim Davis to fight Andrew Bruner's fraudulent charges he filed with the Federal Election Commission while working for Billy Long's campaign. This goes to show that Mr. Long's campaign is willing to fight free speech and the free flow of ideas if they get in his way of political gain.

As well, when Republican Michael Wardell asked Billy Long why his campaign filed charges against a 17-year-old blogger, Billy Long played dumb with Wardell and denied having any knowledge of what was going on in his campaign, which was a familiar tactic throughout the campaign. Wardell described Long's denial as uncomfortable and didn't believe Long when he said he didn't know about the charges being filed with the Federal Election Commission. Wardell says Billy Long wouldn't even look at him when he asked Long why his campaign filed the charges against the 17-year-old boy.

I write this story this evening with information for other bloggers who find themselves intimated by political candidates who hope to silence you and bully you from engaging in the First Amendment. The Billy Long campaign tried to make the case that blogging is considered a political contribution to a candidate or in this case a political action committee. Mr. Bruner, probably through one of Mr. Long's attorney's considering the details and how the complaint was written, made the case that there was a dollar value to the time spent blogging, and then tried to estimate the amount of time spent doing research and writing stories that made the case Billy Long wasn't qualified for office. As of June, when the complaint was filed Bruner estimated the time spent creating the Long is Wrong blog was the equivalent of $1,590, which would be well above the $1000 threshold in which a political action committee must file with the FEC.

The FEC doesn't look at blogging as something worth monetary value if no funds are exchanged for the actual blogging services. In other words, Mr. Bruner didn't do his homework before he filed the fraudulent charges. He may soon find himself with a subpoena to appear in court to cover damages he created with these fraudulent charges, which he signed his complaint with a sworn statement in front of a notary. After all, he perjured himself.

The FEC writes, "commission regulations exempt uncompensated blogging from the definition of "contribution" and "expenditure," including blogging performed in connection with a federal election. (...communication through one's own website is analogous to a communication made from a soapbox in a public square.)" Therefore, you can blog directly all day long for a candidate or against a candidate, as long as your not compensated, and not have to worry about crossing a fine line with an in-kind donation to a candidate.

Billy Long says he will support and defend the Constitution, but his First Amendment record based on this case isn't stellar when you look at the details.