Politico: President Donald Trump told political advisers Thursday that he’s chosen longtime ally Corey Lewandowski to run a yet-to-be-formed super PAC as part of his expanding post-presidential political apparatus, according to multiple people familiar with the discussion.The decision was made … Continue reading
Category Archives: campaign finance
WaPo: A day after JPMorgan Chase announced it would freeze its political contributions in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the nation’s largest bank made an unpublicized move indicating it may not be eager to … Continue reading
A great choice for the FPPC. Congrats Abby! … Continue reading
Axios: In the second half of 2020, Donald Trump’s reelection campaign shelled out seven figures to an influencer marketing business linked to his White House’s former chief digital officer.Why it matters: The payments bought promotion from prominent conservative brands and social … Continue reading
Bill Snyder at Stanford Business. … Continue reading
NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party leveraged false claims of voter fraud and promises to overturn the election to raise more than a quarter-billion dollars in November and December as hundreds of thousands of trusting supporters … Continue reading
WaPo: Former president Donald Trump’s new political action committee raised $31.5 million in the weeks after Election Day through a flurry of fundraising appeals purporting to fight election fraud and help Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate, new filings show.But by … Continue reading
Bloomberg: President Joe Biden benefited from a record-breaking amount of donations from anonymous donors to outside groups backing him, meaning the public will never have a full accounting of who helped him win the White House.Biden’s winning campaign was backed … Continue reading
Anna Massoglia for Open Secrets: Former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign aides played key roles orchestrating a rally protesting certification of President-elect Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 presidential election before hundreds of rioters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. But the full extent … Continue reading
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs. … Continue reading
NYT: The death of Sheldon G. Adelson, the casino magnate who used his vast fortune to tip the balance of power in Washington over the last decade by helping Republicans take control of the House, the Senate and eventually the White … Continue reading
So reports the Las Vegas Review Journal. Condolences to his family. Adelson and his wife gave at least $218 million in contributions to federal candidates and committees just in the 2020 election cycle. … Continue reading
WSJ: Two of the biggest U.S. banks and other corporations said they are pausing or reviewing their political action committee donations in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol.JPMorgan JPM -0.01% Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. C -0.09% said they are pausing all PAC donations to … Continue reading
The Court’s order list is here. Here’s an earlier explanation from the Philanthropy Roundtable: For those following donor-privacy issues, there was an important development in the case known as Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra in mid-December. The current status of this litigation is … Continue reading
Details of event about the new Primo/Milyo book: In recent decades, and particularly since the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, lawmakers and other elites have told Americans that stricter campaign finance laws are needed to improve … Continue reading
AP reports: The Democrats running for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats each raised more than $100 million over two months, a massive haul that eclipsed campaign contributions to their Republican opponents and reflects the high stakes of the twin contests.Jon Ossoff, … Continue reading
AP reports. … Continue reading
Michael Malbin has been one of the most important and careful scholars tracking empirical developments in campaign finance as a professor at SUNY Albany and for 21 years as director of the influential Campaign Finance Institute. I rely on CFI … Continue reading
NYT: Donald J. Trump will exit the White House as a private citizen next month perched atop a pile of campaign cash unheard-of for an outgoing president, and with few legal limits on how he can spend it.Deflated by a … Continue reading
Tampa Bay Times: The name of the mystery donor behind a $550,000 effort that helped promote no-party candidates in three key Florida Senate races, including one that is under investigation, was changed in campaign finance reports over the weekend.While making … Continue reading
Philanthropy Roundtable: For those following donor-privacy issues, there was an important development in the case known as Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra in mid-December. The current status of this litigation is that the plaintiffs have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case … Continue reading
Politico: President Donald Trump couldn’t make it any clearer: He needs his supporters to fork over cash for the all-important Georgia Senate runoff elections.“We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems!” he wrote in one recent text message. “I need YOU … Continue reading
WaPo: The Senate on Wednesday confirmed three members to the Federal Election Commission, restoring the agency’s ability to conduct official business after months without a voting quorum and bringing the panel to its full slate of six members for the … Continue reading
Roger Sollenberger for Salon: A super PAC that claims to advocate for wounded veterans raised millions of dollars this year, but spent only $18,000 of it on political activity. The rest of the money was spun off to administrative and marketing services, including to three companies … Continue reading
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy at the Brennan Center. … Continue reading
The Court had invited the views of the Solicitor General about whether or not it should take the case, and now the office has filed this brief. It would not surprise me to see the Biden Administration taking a contrary … Continue reading
Roger Sollenberger for Salon: In August, Salon reported that the Republican National Committee (RNC) had paid about $5 million to a mystery marketing services company called Digital Consulting Group LLC, starting with a $2 million expenditure in February, just a month after the company was formed.Now, filings with the Federal … Continue reading
Come for the fake candidate with the same last name as the Democrat; stay for the use of sham LLCs and super pacs to obscure the identity of those behind the dirty trick. It would not surprises me if this … Continue reading
New: How can U.S. public companies protect against the risks inherent in spending to influence elections when politics is hyperpartisan, citizens are polarized and a controversy can ignite a wildfire virally and potentially affect a company’s bottom line?The Center for … Continue reading
WaPo: President Trump’s political operation has raised more than $150 million since Election Day, using a blizzard of misleading appeals about the election to shatter fundraising records set during the campaign, according to people with knowledge of the contributions.The influx of … Continue reading
AP: As an elite political fundraiser, Imaad Zuberi had the ear of top Democrats and Republicans alike — a reach that included private meetings with then-Vice President Joe Biden and VIP access at Donald Trump’s inauguration.He lived a lavish, jet-setting … Continue reading
Fredreka Schouten for CNN: But the legal fine print on each shows that a new Trump fundraising arm, Save America, actually will get the first cut of any money that comes in. And because spending rules for leadership PACs are … Continue reading
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy for the Brennan Center. … Continue reading
AP: Trump has promised to contest President-elect Joe Biden’s win in court. But the fine print indicates much of the money donated to support that effort since Election Day has instead paid down campaign debt, replenished the Republican National Committee … Continue reading
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy for the Brennan Center. … Continue reading
WaPo: In the wake of the election, President Trump’s supporters have been peppered with texts and emails asking for donations to support legal battles contesting his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.“We can’t allow the Left-wing MOB to undermine our Election,” … Continue reading
This is not a surprise at all and I was always mystified by anyone who thought this Court would agree to hear a campaign finance case to make things more regulatory. The trend is decidedly in the opposite direction. … Continue reading
New from Bruce Freed, Karl Sandstrom, and Dan Carroll: How has the Trump presidency impacted corporate political disclosure and accountability? The answer might come as a surprise. It’s been a boon and a boom.Over the past four years, more large … Continue reading
NRA Victory Fund is a super PAC that does not make campaign contributions. Yet there is now a $5,000 contribution listed to Trump for President. Perhaps this is an error and it came from another fund. We’ll see. UPDATE: A … Continue reading
Quite a story in ProPublica today: Debbie Chacona oversees the division of the Federal Election Commission that serves as the first line of defense against illegal flows of cash in political campaigns. Its dozens of analysts sift through billions of … Continue reading
Great new reporting from Andy Kroll: The disinformation operation was christened “Project Clintonson.” It brought together two notorious figures in Republican political circles, Blackwater founder Erik Prince and Trump adviser Roger Stone. Their objective couldn’t have been more explicit.“We do not … Continue reading
Karl Sandstrom at Law360. … Continue reading
Axios podcast speaks to Ciara Torres-Spelliscy. … Continue reading
Bloomberg: Bloomberg Green examined political donations by businesses in the S&P 100 and the U.S.-based members of the Climate Action 100, a group representing the world’s largest corporate contributors to climate change. For every dollar these corporations gave to one … Continue reading
Stat: The Affordable Care Act has driven a huge boost in revenue for pharmaceutical companies — but ironically, $1.5 million in drug industry donations last election cycle were funneled to Republican state attorneys general who will soon make a case … Continue reading
NYT: President Trump’s re-election campaign committee ended September with only $63.1 million in the bank despite canceling some television buys late last month, leaving him badly outmatched financially against Joseph R. Biden Jr., who reported $177.3 million in cash on hand … Continue reading
ReCode reports. … Continue reading
Ellen Weintraub NYT oped: Among many other recent developments not likely on anyone’s 2020 bingo card, a Supreme Court decision about foreign aid and legalized prostitution has shattered perceived constraints on the authority of the United States to robustly defend … Continue reading
Steven Sholk: I am pleased to announce that an updated version of my article, A Guide to Election Year Activities of Section 501(c)(3) Organizations, has been published by Practising Law Institute as part of its 2020 Course Handbook for the … Continue reading
Campaign Finance Institute: Independent spending (IEs) in the general elections of 2020 for the U.S. House and Senate reached $1.035 billion as of October 15. This is nearly one-third of a billion dollars more than congressional IEs as of the … Continue reading