Comedian Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night went straight to the Federal Election Commission to ask for an exemption for his new political action committee he said aims to be “a force in the 2012 election.”

“The Colbert Report” sketch, like much of his straight man routine, went after politicians in the news. He highlighted the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowing for unlimited corporate donations to a “super PAC.” He also mentioned candidates who appear on Fox News to talk about PACs and Donald Trump’s discussion of his potential 2012 candidacy on his NBC reality show. (Watch that clip here.)

So, Colbert filed an official FEC request with the help of his lawyer and former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter, asking the agency whether Colbert’s coverage of his new PAC may receive a media exemption.

This exemption would mean Comedy Central and its parent company, Viacom, would not be considered to be giving Colbert’s PAC a corporate donation by allowing him to discuss the PAC on TV.

Colbert’s advisory opinion request was prompted by a letter to Colbert from Viacom worried about his frequent mentions of Colbert PAC during his late-night cable show. (Watch a clip of Colbert reading Viacom’s letter.)