The Independent View: RNC Files Lawsuit to Raise Unlimited Cash

The Republican National Committee on Friday sued the Federal Election Commission in an effort to raise unlimited cash like super PACs do.

The central committee, chairman Reince Priebus and Louisiana Republicans filed a joint lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking for permission to set up an independent account that could raise and spend potentially enormous sums of money to help federal candidates. Under the current rules, the RNC may only accept $32,400 each year from donors, and local-level parties are capped at $10,000.

"The patchwork of limits on political speech undermines the First Amendment and puts high transparency, full-disclosure groups like the RNC on an unequal footing with other political entities," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. "We are asking that political parties be treated equally under the law."

The RNC plans to establish independent spending accounts for House and Senate candidates this election year, followed in 2016 with a spending account for the Republican presidential nominee, according to the lawsuit.

Unlike some outside groups, money given to the RNC would be subject to the same reporting requirements as currently exist. The committee still would file monthly reports detailing where it receives its money and where it spends it.

In addition to the RNC and Priebus, the Republican Party of Louisiana, the Jefferson and Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committees and Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere joined the lawsuit.