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The state Democratic Party has withdrawn its Oct. 1 request for a Federal Election Commission opinion on the legality of using funds raised for federal congressional campaigns to pay for mass mailings promoting re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

The withdrawal avoids the possibility of receiving a legal thumbs-down from the FEC on the mass mailing that the Democrats decided to move forward with, anyway, about a week after submitting the Oct. request.

The Democrat's attorney informed the FEC in an email, shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, that it was dropping its request for the federal agency's advice. The email was sent on the eve of the federal election agency's scheduled consideration of the matter at a Thursday meeting.

Also Thursday, the matter was argued by Democratic and Republican lawyers in Hartford Superior Court, where a judge held off on a decision until he can review arguments concerning the GOP's request for an injunction to stop Democrats from using the federal campaigns to help Malloy.

The state Democratic Party's lawyer wrote to the FEC Oct. 1 to ask whether the federal commission would concur with the party's contention that it could legally spend the federal campaign funds to help Malloy. Then, about a week ago, the Democrats decided to go forward with a massive pro-Malloy mailing without waiting for the FEC's advice.

Republicans joined the State Election Enforcement Commission and the good-government advocacy group Common Cause in blasting Democrats for their pro-Malloy use of the party's "federal account," which receives heavy contributions from state contractors who are banned from contributing to state political campaigns.

Anticipating that the FEC would be considering the legality of the Democrats' move, the SEEC sent a 10-page letter to the federal commission earlier this month arguing that it should call the move illegal because it would "cynically circumvent" the state clean-election law that bans the contractors from giving money to candidates for state office.

Now that Democrats have told the FEC that they don't want an answer, state Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. said Thursday: "Of course Connecticut Democrats have withdrawn their request from the FEC. They've already sent the mailers, they've already violated the law -- the last thing they want now is for the FEC to confirm that they've violated the law."

"The fact is that Connecticut Democrats and Dan Malloy are engaging in an illegal pay-to-play scheme to raise money from state contractors and use it to fund the governor's campaign," Labriola said in an email.

Democratic Party Executive Director Jonathan Harris said: "This is simple: Jerry Labriola is lying about the facts, because he's trying to draw attention away from Tom Foley's abysmal record of exploiting the middle class, walking away with millions of dollars, and paying almost no taxes. ... The GOP should focus on developing an agenda that doesn't turn back the clock on everything from women's rights, to marriage equality, to support for the middle class."

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Democrats No Longer Want Feds' Opinion On Malloy Mailers They've Already Sent