DCCC, Marc Elias' firm accused of 'apparent civil violations' of federal election law

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FIRST ON FOX: An anti-Biden political action committee (PAC) filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) alleging "apparent civil violations" of election law between the House Democrats’ campaign arm and top liberal lawyer and former Hillary Clinton attorney Marc Elias’ law firm.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the complaint filed by the Committee to Defeat the President as well as their letter to Justice Department election crimes branch Director Robert Heberle regarding the allegations against the DCCC and Elias Law Group.

Counsel for the Committee to Defeat the President Dan Backer, who sent the letter to the DOJ, told Fox News Digital for "years, the infamous Marc Elias and the corrupt Democrats in his orbit have violated federal campaign finance laws, and it’s high time to hold them accountable."

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Attorney Marc Elias preps with attorneys Roopali Desai (far left), Sarah Gonski (left) and Amanda Callais on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016, before the hearing for his lawsuit against Arizona over voting rights. Elias is the general counsel for the Hillary Clinton campaign. (Photo by David Jolkovski for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"Americans deserve to know the truth about the Democratic Party’s shady money laundering schemes, especially when campaign funds are supposed to be spent in one way and they get spent in another," Backer said.

"Based on the Committee’s robust research, and Elias’ own shady past, it seems pretty clear that Elias and other Democrats have engaged in false reporting, and that cannot go unchecked," he continued.

A letter from the FEC obtained by Fox News Digital acknowledged the receipt of the complaint.

In the letter, Backer wrote to Heberle about "possible criminal violations of both the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and the federal Criminal Code" allegedly committed by the DCCC and Elias Law Group.

"I hope that you will not allow the Biden Administration’s political appointees within the Department of Justice to allow President Biden’s close political allies to gain an unfair advantage in the electoral process by violating federal criminal law with impunity," Backer wrote.

Backer pointed out the "FECA requires each political committee to report to the FEC the purpose of each of its operating expenditures over $200" and that in "a series of FEC filings over the course of 2021 and 2022, the DCCC reported making a total of $5,177,460.62 in payments between October 19, 2021, and July 15, 2022, to Elias Law Group for ‘RECOUNT LEGAL [SERVICES].’"

DCCC spokesperson Chris Taylor insisted the campaign committee "is proud to have a strong union that protects workers." (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

"The DCCC’s reported purpose for this nearly $5.2 million in disbursements appears to have been false, for several reasons," Backer wrote.

Backer pointed out that, at "the time these payments were made, there were no longer any recounts pending arising from congressional elections in 2020" and that "such payments occurred as much as a year prior to the 2022 general election, making it highly unlikely they were connected to potential recounts in that election."

"Indeed, it does not appear the Elias Law Group used this nearly $5.2 million to prepare for potential recounts in connection with the 2022 general election," he wrote. "Between July 15, 2022 and December 31, 2022, the DCCC paid the Elias Law Group a total of over $7.3 million, also for ‘RECOUNT LEGAL [SERVICES],’ to prepare for any recounts, monitor the conduct of voting, and conduct any necessary post-election litigation."

"Likewise, it is unlikely these payments were made in connection with recounts arising from the 2022 primary elections, since the DCCC typically stays neutral in such races and does not provide legal assistance to particular candidates," Backer added.

Backer also alleged that Elias, "the name partner of Elias Law Group, has a history of allowing Democratic political committees to misrepresent the nature of his firm’s legal services to shield their activities from public scrutiny," pointing to his former firm, Perkins Coie’s work on the debunked Steele dossier.

"Elias has also been sanctioned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for lack of candor," Backer wrote. "Another federal court accused him of attempting to ‘impinge[]’ upon ‘free, open, rational elections.’"

"It is reasonably possible Elias Law Group facilitated the DCCC’s false reporting by providing fraudulent billing statements misrepresenting the purpose of the firm’s charges, to assist in shielding the true nature of their activities from public scrutiny," Backer alleged.

Backer alleged Elias Law Group and the DCCC "may have violated four federal statutes:" "FECA criminal provisions," the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act," statutes regarding "false statements," and "conspiracy" statutes.

"Particularly in light of the Democratic national party committees’ past efforts to fraudulently conceal the purpose of their payments to Mark Elias, and Elias’ history of dishonesty in the federal courts, I hope you will thoroughly investigate this matter," Backer wrote.

Elias, one of the most influential liberal attorneys in Washington, departed the Perkins Coie law firm in 2021 to start the Elias Law Group. Elias' firm focuses on electing Democrats, supporting voter rights, and helping "progressives make change," a past Perkins Coie press release said.

The Democratic superlawyer's firm has since pulled in massive amounts of cash from several left-wing committees. During the 2022 election cycle, the DCCC paid Elias Law Group more than $14 million, a Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission records shows.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building on Dec. 7, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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The Sen. Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC, which works to elect and maintain Democrats in Congress's upper chamber, directed nearly $3 million to the Elias Law Group for legal services. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) sent almost $2 million to the firm for legal services throughout the midterm elections.

However, the DNC and Elias' firm will no longer work together, a spokesperson for the firm and DNC recently confirmed.

The DCCC and Elias Law Group did not respond to Fox News Digital's inquiries on the accusations from the anti-Biden super PAC.