Legal proceedings are under way concerning funding of Michael Moore's pre-election Slacker Uprising Tour by Penn State and other institutions that hosted the filmmaker.

David T. Hardy, a former attorney with the U.S. Department of the Interior, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which said Penn State and 11 other institutions violated the presidential finance rules by paying Moore to speak at University Park.

Ian Stirton, an FEC spokesman, confirmed that Hardy had filed a complaint but could not provide any other information.

"By law I'm not allowed to comment on the complaint until the legal proceedings are over," Stirton said.

The FEC was created in 1975 to enforce the provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act.

The act oversees the limits and prohibitions on contributions and the public funding of elections.

"We have jurisdiction over campaign law," Stirton said.

"Candidates need to file where they get their funds and how they use their funds with our organization," Stirton added.

The College Democrats invited Moore to Penn State, and University Park Allocations Committee contributed $30,000 for his visit.

"The university never invited Moore, and no tuition or state dollars went toward paying for his visit," Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said.

"Student funds are supposed to go to this type of event," he added.

Kendig also said students paid for former President George H.W. Bush's visit to Penn State through their own funds.

Kendig added that he does not believe this incident will really affect the university.

"I'm not sure that this will have implications at all toward the university," Kendig said. "This lawsuit seems misdirected, as did complaints about [George H.W.] Bush coming to Penn State."

College Republicans Treasurer Brittany Moore said in an e-mail message that she feels every person has a right to the freedom of speech, but she is upset about Moore's visit to University Park.

"I find it entirely unacceptable when a non-biased and non-political institution such as Penn State hosts a speaker and pays them when they know the only reason the speaker is there is to spread their own political opinions and bash the opposing party," she said.

She added that Moore's visit would have been acceptable if the university would have balanced it with a visit from another well-known celebrity of the opposing party.

College Democrats President Megan Green said the lawsuit is unfounded and unjust.

"A lot of us didn't like when Ann Coulter came to Penn State but we didn't try to sue the university because she was funded from university money," she said.

"A university is a place where there has to be free speech, liberal or conservative, and it's things like this that may ruin it for the students," Green added.

Kendig said this is simply part of an ongoing fight between Moore and Hardy.

"This is a personal grudge match between the attorney and Moore and not something Penn State should be involved in," he said.

"This is people on both sides of a bitter election complaining about our university and the students' freedom of speech," Kendig added

Hardy could not be reached for comment.