Joe Miller, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, says Alaska Native corporations are violating federal election laws.

Miller, an attorney who has the backing of the Tea Party movement, filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against the Alaskans Standing Together. He says the Native corporations can't contribute to political campaigns because they are federal contractors

"Even by Washington D.C. standards, the level of corruption shown by Alaskans Standing Together and Lisa Murkowski is shocking," Miller said in a statement. "Their efforts to preserve the status quo and reelect their 'bought and paid for' senator are not even bound by the law. The Alaskan Native Corporations have reaped billions from questionable set-asides and federal contracting programs and Sen. Murkowski has fought efforts to reform them. We now know why."

Alaskans Standing Together is an independent expenditure committee whose major source of funds comes from the Native corporations. The group is backing the write-in campaign of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Independent expenditure committees are new in terms of election law but the FEC has previously ruled that tribal governments can contribute to political campaigns even if they are government contractors.

Get the Story:
Miller files complaint against Native PAC (The Anchorage Daily News 10/21)
Alaska's Miller files complaint against Native PAC (McClatchy Newspapers 10/21)
Miller slaps PAC with complaint (Politico 10/21)
Miller files FEC complaint against Murkowski backers (KTUU-TV 10/20)

FEC Advisory:
Indian Tribes (February 2, 2006)

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