WASHINGTON A new conservative-leaning watchdog group said Friday it has filed a complaint calling on the Federal Election Commission to determine whether Hillary Clinton has already met the legal threshold requiring her to formally declare herself a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The complaint cites media reports that Clinton has already picked out her staff, selected pollsters and that her team is feeding talking points to a new political group to try to defend her amid a controversy over her use, while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, of a private email account to conduct official business.
She also has traveled the country making speeches.
“Both the duration and substance of Hillary Clinton’s activities indicate that she is in fact a candidate and cannot avoid the disclosure and transparency required by law,” it said.
It was filed by the Washington-based Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust and signed by its executive director, Matthew Whitaker. He is a former U.S. attorney in Iowa who ran unsuccessfully for the state’s Republican senatorial nomination in 2013 and 2014.
The Federal Election Commission recently dismissed a separate complaint alleging that Clinton had met the threshold requiring registration, which defines formal campaigning as publicly declaring candidacy and raising or spending at least $5,000.
A spokeswoman for the commission said she could not comment on enforcement matters.