Campaign groups spar over ad rules

The House Democratic and Republican campaign arms are in a contentious legal back-and-forth over the airing of TV ads suspected to be intentionally false.

At issue is a Thursday letter the National Republican Congressional Committee sent to stations nationwide informing them that they had the right to reject ads from Democratic committees, groups or candidates if they believed the spots to be inaccurate or fabricated.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee struck back Friday evening, dispatching a letter to the NRCC, accusing the GOP committee of asking stations to break the law. In the letter, DCCC general counsel Brian Svoboda argues that the Federal Communications Commission has long told stations that they do not have the power to reject candidate advertisements even if they contain what the FCC calls "libelous remarks." Svoboda also points to the Communications Act of 1934, which, he notes, told stations that they "shall have no power of censorship" over candidates' use of the public airwaves.