Category Archives: campaign finance

“Potent Weapon or Poison Pill? Super PACs Pose Quandary for 2020 Democrats”

December 11, 2018, 7:24 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Shane Goldmacher for the NYT: It is one of the most potent and feared weapons in the arsenal of modern American politics: the super PAC. But as three dozen Democrats ponder presidential runs in 2020 and begin to design their… Continue reading

“‘A Simple Private Transaction’: Trump Lays Out a Defense in a Campaign-Finance Case”

December 10, 2018, 6:25 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Charlie Savage in the NYT: President Trump defended himself on Monday against prosecutors’ accusation that he directed illegal payments ahead of the 2016 election to two women to stay silent about alleged extramarital affairs with him, insisting that the payments… Continue reading

Interview with Me on PBS News Hour: “Why Cohen’s hush money places the president at legal risk”

December 10, 2018, 4:58 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

I spoke to the PBS News Hour about the President and the alleged campaign finance violations.

“Trump’s ‘Obama Did It Too’ Legal Defense Does Not Hold an Ounce of Water”

December 10, 2018, 11:45 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: President Donald Trump may never face a criminal penalty or impeachment proceedings for violating campaign finance laws in alleged conspiracy with his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. But on Monday,… Continue reading

“Campaign finance fraud accusations haunt Spano, congressional office”

December 10, 2018, 10:12 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Politico: U.S. Rep.-elect Ross Spano is struggling to hire office staff as he relies on a controversial adviser: one of the friends at the center of a campaign finance scandal that is rocking the Florida Republican. Spano, an attorney and… Continue reading

“Vanguard is no friend to shareholders seeking more details on firms’ political spending”

December 10, 2018, 7:04 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Philly Inquirer reports.

Breaking: Supreme Court Declines to Hear Austin, Texas Low Campaign Contributions Case, Takes No Action on North Carolina Gerrymandering Petition

December 10, 2018, 6:49 amcampaign finance, redistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

With no noted dissent, the Supreme Court has turned down a cert. petition in the Zimmerman campaign finance case from Austin Texas. I flagged this case (along with a Montana case that the Court will consider taking up in January)… Continue reading

“Prosecutors Effectively Accuse Trump of Defrauding Voters. What Does It Mean?”

December 9, 2018, 11:04 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: In the memo in the case of Mr. Cohen, prosecutors from the Southern District of New York depicted Mr. Trump, identified only as “Individual-1,” as an accomplice in the hush payments. While Mr. Trump was not charged, the… Continue reading

9th Circuit Considering Case Arguing Federal Foreign Contribution Ban Cannot Apply to Actions in State or Local Elections

December 8, 2018, 11:49 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Josh Gerstein for Politico: Singh is appealing a 2016 federal conviction on charges a Mexican real estate developer secretly footed the bill for a quarter million dollars-worth of digital campaign consulting that Singh provided two San Diego mayoral candidates. The… Continue reading

SDNY Sentencing Memo: Michael Cohen “Acted in Coordination with and at the Direction of” Donald Trump in Making Two Payments to Women to Keep Them Silent About Affairs Before Election

December 7, 2018, 2:05 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

From the sentencing memo: During the campaign, Cohen played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories – each from women who claimed to have had an affair with Individual-1 – so as to suppress… Continue reading

“Judge voids key pieces of Arizona law gutting campaign finance rules”

December 7, 2018, 1:47 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Arizona Republic: A judge has ruled that Arizona lawmakers violated the state Constitution on multiple fronts when they passed a sweeping overhaul of campaign-finance laws in 2016. Those changes illegally limit the power of the voter-approved Citizens Clean Elections Commission… Continue reading

Democratic and Republican AG Associations Collecting Big Bucks

December 7, 2018, 12:16 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Corporate Counsel: Midterm contribution records from Political MoneyLine show corporations gave big to both parties in the AG races. For instance, DAGA’s top contributors were unions such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ($350,000), its top donor. But… Continue reading

“Documents Point to Illegal Campaign Coordination Between Trump and NRA”

December 6, 2018, 12:44 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

The Trace: Reporting by The Trace shows that the NRA and the Trump campaign employed the same operation — at times, the exact same people — to craft and execute their advertising strategies for the 2016 presidential election. The… Continue reading

“After Citizens United, a Vicious Cycle of Corruption”

December 6, 2018, 11:13 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Tom Edsall NYT column: Since 2010, when the case was decided, independent expenditures and other forms of outside spending have grown exponentially, according to OpenSecrets. In 2010, independent expenditures totaled $203.9 million; in 2016, it was $1.48 billion. In… Continue reading