By Alex Knott, CQ Staff

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has dismissed a complaint against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., for appearing in an environment-related ad during the 2008 election season with former Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Georgia Republican.

In May 2008, the Judicial Watch organization sent a letter to the FEC arguing that Pelosi’s appearance in a TV commercial produced by Alliance for Climate Protection constituted a violation of campaign finance laws.

The letter sparked a FEC investigation to determine if the ad could be considered a form of electioneering, which would make the money paid by the nonprofit group a prohibited “soft money” donation.

On Friday, the FEC released documents explaining the basis for the commissioners’ 5-0 vote dismissing the complaint.

The documents show that the agency found the Alliance’s ad fit the “goal of focusing public attention on a policy issue, rather than for any reason pertaining to Speaker Pelosi in her role as a candidate.”

The vote itself took place May 6.