host: joining us is dave levinthal, senior political reporter at the center for public integrity. he is here to talk about the state of the federal election commission and its ability to oversee campaign-finance laws. guest: good to be with you. host: let's remind our viewers what is the fec. guest: the federal election commission was created in the aftermath of watergate. it was proposed as sort of an elixir to bring order to what of course was a very turbulent campaign, the watergate scandal. very quickly, it was not necessarily is powerful as people across the country would have liked, although it was designed as a bipartisan agency that would not be dominated either by republicans or democrats. that has proven to be a good thing. occasions, it has not been an overriding late partisan body , but many critics would say it means there will be some inherent gridlock or disagreement on the commission that will lead to it not being a strong regulator. , itom line for the fec regulates and enforces campaign-finance laws for the country, which is an important role when you have billio

host: joining us is dave levinthal, senior political reporter at the center for public integrity. is here to talk about the state of the federal election commission and its ability to oversee campaign-finance laws. guest: good to be with you. host: let's remind our viewers what is the fec