The Fox News article stated, “Donor disclosure laws are intended to prevent big-money interests from unduly influencing an election. Political candidates that raise more than $5,000 in a campaign must file a report with the Federal Elections Commission detailing their income and expenditures. The disclosure is a matter of public record.

“But in 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 1979 FEC ruling that exempted the Socialist Workers Party from the disclosure laws, saying that the party’s ideas were so unpopular that its supporters could reasonably expect a backlash.

“The ruling was found to be constitutional because it protects unpopular party supporters’ rights of free speech and free association.

“On a 4-2 vote, the Federal Elections Commission renewed in April the Socialist Workers Party exemption from the donor disclosure law.”

The article ends with a quote by Steven Moore, to which Koppel responds.
 

To the editor of Fox News:

A July 16 Fox News dispatch, headlined “Socialists Seek Exemption from Campaign Finance Laws,” misrepresents the Socialist Workers Party’s long-standing opposition to government financial disclosure laws. Steven Moore, identified as president of the Club for Growth, is quoted as saying the Socialist Workers Party “has supported all these campaign financial laws.” But the SWP opposes “disclosure for themselves,” Moore adds, accusing us of “hypocrisy.”

Even a cursory fact check would show Moore’s statement to be false. The Socialist Workers Party has never supported campaign financial disclosure, which endangers the elementary right of association contained in the Bill of Rights. The SWP opposes all undemocratic laws aimed at blocking working-class candidates and independent parties from contesting the two capitalist parties in the elections—such as onerous petitioning requirements to get on the ballot and denial of equal media access.

Martín Koppel Chairperson Socialist Workers National Campaign Committee  
 
 
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