I'd be curious to see what FEC rule CNN is citing to claim that their hands are tied.
The staging broadcaster is a participant in the debate. The FEC's concern is whether the debate is a bona fide news event, or whether it is vehicle to support a particular candidate. If it is a vehicle to support a particular candidate, it would be an illegal campaign contribution if coordinated with the campaign (corporate contribution, contribution limits, and unreported). If it were an independent activity (permitted under Citizens United), it would still have to be reported.
The job of the lawyers for CNN is to keep CNN from being sued, not to win lawsuits.
CNN will say that their hands tied (so we can blame the FEC) rather than we're protecting the bottom line.
Now that they have changed their criteria, CNN will claim that it is breaking news story.
Those parties who are suing the Commission on Presidential Debates, who stages the general election debates, will cite the changes as establishing a precedent. They are also claiming that the CPD's threshold of 15% for participation is not objective.
