Rosendale asks court to dismiss campaign finance lawsuit

— Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges his campaign and the National Rifle Association illegally worked together to run ads during his unsuccessful 2018 race against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. The gun control group Giffords filed the lawsuit in November, alleging the NRA and its affiliates worked with Rosendale’s campaign and produced nearly $400,000 in campaign ads criticizing Tester’s votes on three U.S. Supreme Court nominees. The accusation against Rosendale is part of a larger lawsuit that alleged the NRA, dating back to 2014, worked “to evade campaign finance regulations by using a series of shell corporations to illegally but surreptitiously coordinate advertising with at least seven candidates for federal office.” Former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign received up to $25 million as part of the scheme, the lawsuit states. The Giffords group asked the Federal Election Commission in September 2018 to investigate the after The Daily Beast posted a recording that appeared to capture Rosendale saying that he expected the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to enter the race against Tester and that he had spoken with Chris Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, the group’s lobbying arm.