Category Archives: federal election commission

“Ted Cruz has never recouped more than $500,000 he loaned his first campaign. He’s working to overturn the law that’s blocked him.”

December 14, 2021, 1:03 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: Locked in an expensive Republican primary for U.S. senator against a wealthy, better-known opponent, Ted Cruz loaned his campaign over $1 million in 2012.The cash helped him defeat Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a runoff that… Continue reading

“Money, denials and stalling: How Trump, the Mercers and the GOP beat the FEC”

November 12, 2021, 3:33 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

CNBC: The Federal Election Commission in August started to move ahead with halting its investigation into the now defunct data harvesting company Cambridge Analytica, the firm that worked for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign for… Continue reading

Chart of the Day

November 10, 2021, 10:17 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Dramatic rise in campaign spending in federal elections, per a new FEC Inspector General report.

“GOP unity on FEC shattered, future uncertain”

October 14, 2021, 9:55 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Washington Examiner: Long-standing Republican unity on the Federal Election Commission, especially against liberal efforts to expand rules to punish GOP candidates, appears to be in jeopardy with the arrival of a new member who has stirred controversy by… Continue reading

“Pro-Trump PAC fined over foreign money offer”

October 13, 2021, 6:53 amcampaign finance, chicanery, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Lachlan Markay for Axios: A pro-Trump political group has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle allegations it illegally solicited $2 million from reporters posing as intermediaries for a Chinese national.Why it matters: A key player in the scheme, a veteran… Continue reading

Republican FEC Commissioners: Twitter Entitled to Press Exemption for Excluding NY Post Content on Hunter Biden

September 15, 2021, 11:37 amcampaign finance, cheap speech, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Dickerson/Trainor statement: Moreover, the decision as to precisely which news to distribute is, in many ways, the sine qua non of “the business of producing…news stories, commentary,and/or editorials.”27 The New York Times famously emblazons its masthead with the… Continue reading

“The F.E.C. dismisses claims that Twitter illegally blocked a Hunter Biden article.”

September 13, 2021, 9:38 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Shane Goldmacher for the NYT: The Federal Election Commission has dismissed Republican accusations that Twitter violated election laws in October by blocking people from posting links to an unsubstantiated New York Post article about Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son Hunter… Continue reading

IFS Files Amicus Briefs Attacking FEC Democratic Commissioners’ Refusal to Close Case Files or Vote to Defend FEC in Court for Inaction

August 18, 2021, 6:56 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

See here. For background, read this NYT article.

Election Law Scholars’ Amicus Brief Urging En Banc in CREW v. FEC on FEC Misuse of “Prosecutorial Discretion” to Avoid Deciding Cases

June 30, 2021, 12:34 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

This amicus brief on a very important issue is written on behalf of Richard Briffault, Michael S. Kang, Jennifer Nou, Bertrall Ross, Douglas Spencer, Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, and Abby K. Wood.

“F.E.C. Dismisses Case Against Democrats Over Outreach to Ukraine”

June 16, 2021, 4:51 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint by an ally of President Donald J. Trump accusing the Democratic Party and one of its former consultants of violating campaign finance laws by working with Ukraine to help Hillary Clinton’s… Continue reading

“Democrats’ Improbable New F.E.C. Strategy: More Deadlock Than Ever”

June 8, 2021, 7:00 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: For more than a decade, Democrats seeking more robust enforcement of election laws and transparency measures have been routinely routed at the F.E.C., the nation’s top campaign watchdog agency. They have complained bitterly that Republicans have weaponized the commission’s… Continue reading

“Opinion: Close this FEC loophole that killed the case over Trump’s payment to Stormy Daniels”

May 10, 2021, 6:46 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub’s WaPo oped: But when the FEC’s professional legal staff recommended the commission investigate, two Republican commissioners instead tanked the case without a word about its merits. Since Cohen had already been prosecuted, they said,… Continue reading

“F.E.C. Drops Case Reviewing Trump Hush-Money Payments to Women”

May 7, 2021, 6:43 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: The Federal Election Commission said on Thursday that it had formally dropped a case looking into whether former President Donald J. Trump violated election law with a payment of $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election to a pornographic-film actress… Continue reading

“F.E.C. Asks Congress to Ban Prechecked Recurring Donation Boxes”

May 6, 2021, 10:29 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: The Federal Election Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to recommend that Congress ban political campaigns from guiding donors by default into recurring contributions through prechecked boxes, a month after a New York Times investigation showed that former President Donald… Continue reading