Obama Lawyer Demands Crossroads Reveals Donors

Crossroads GPS, a "social welfare" organization that has spent millions on ads attacking Democrats, is clearly a political committee and should therefore be required to disclose its donors, charges the Obama campaign. The campaign's chief counsel has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Committee, saying that the group—the sister organization of the American Crossroads group co-founded by Karl Rove—is trying to shield "wealthy individuals and corporations who may be pursuing special interest agendas that are not in the national interest," the Washington Post reports.

"There has never been any doubt about its true purpose: to elect candidates of its choice to the presidency and Congress," the lawyer writes. A spokesman for Crossroads dismissed the complaint as a publicity stunt, saying that the president's campaign doesn't appear to have a problem with similar groups supporting liberal causes. The Obama complaint is unlikely to change anything this election, since the FEC takes an average of 10 months to resolve complaints. Even if it did side with Obama, the decision would end up in the courts, the Wall Street Journal notes. (More American Crossroads stories.)