Remember when the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to Democracy 21 President Wertheimer stating that DOJ would "vigorously pursue instances where individuals knowingly and intentionally violate clear commands" of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Well now reportedly DOJ will not pursue an investigation into the donors of independent political groups. According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), Craig Donsanto, the director of the Election Crimes Branch in DOJ's Public Integrity Section was asked "whether he would approve of a case against a hypothetical contributor to a Section 527 group who gave a seven-figure donation based on a request to help or harm the prospects of a particular presidential candidate, Donsanto said, 'No.'" His comments appeared to distance DOJ from the legal position taken in recent years by the Federal Election Commission. For example, the FEC adopted a regulation (11 CFR 100.57) after the last presidential election saying that money solicited by a group to support or oppose a federal candidate can be considered a regulated campaign contribution, limited to $5,000 annually per contributor. DOJ has backed the FEC in defending this regulation and others against a recent court challenge, but Donsanto's comments indicated that department apparently does not view the FEC rules as a strong enough basis for a criminal case. Donsanto indicated that the legal standard established by the Supreme Court decision in the Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) case was not clear enough for a criminal prosecution. "DOJ currently has 77 active investigations of election crimes cases." The Center for Competitive Politics is concerned about what this means for the individual groups themselves; " the only position staked out by DOJ, through Donsanto, was not to criminally pursue the donors, thus tacitly leaving the door open to criminal investigations of the independent groups who solicit and accept the donations."