Super PACs and Trump’s Wife: How a Photo Dispute Highlights Weakness in Campaign Finance Rules

There’s no evidence to support Donald Trump’s claim that Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) played a role in a super PAC’s attack on his wife. But federal rules barring coordination between candidates and the super PACs that support them have been so rarely enforced that even if Trump were right, it’s uncertain the Sen Cruz campaign would be penalized.

The question arose the week of March 21, when a super PAC called “Make America Awesome” rolled out a digital ad targeting Utah voters that featured Trump’s wife, Melania, posing nude for the British edition of GQ magazine more than 15 years ago. “Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady,” the ad read. “Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.” Trump accused Sen Cruz, or his campaign, of buying the photo from the magazine and providing it to the PAC. Trump has offered nothing to back up the claim. The Sen Cruz camp said it had no involvement in the ad. A representative for the PAC accused Trump of concocting a “weird conspiracy theory.” And the original photographer denied giving approval for anyone but GQ to use the photo. Suppose, though, that evidence does emerge to show a link. It would be up to the Federal Election Commission, which is supposed to police the conduct of campaigns and political action committees, to determine if it is illegal for a candidate to buy or produce content that a super PAC then parlays into an ad. If history is any guide, it’s not a sure bet the FEC would do anything about it.