Category Archives: campaign finance
“NRA Proves the Need for Campaign-Finance Reform”
Bloomberg View editorial:
The National Rifle Association is finished answering questions. That’s what the organization told Senator Ron Wyden last week in a letter complaining about Wyden’s “time-consuming and burdensome” inquiries into the NRA’s ties to Russians.
That answer isn’t… Continue reading
“Top GOP super PAC books $48 million in ads for House races”
WaPo:
The Congressional Leadership Fund, the leading Republican super PAC focused on the House, is booking $48 million in ad reservations ahead of the November midterm elections — giving its first indications of where it intends to focus its considerable… Continue reading
“Eyeing 2020, Trump Fund-Raisers Return to Familiar Well: Small Donors”
“How Russian Facebook Ads Divided and Targeted U.S. Voters Before the 2016 Election”
Wired:
WHEN YOUNG MIE Kim began studying political ads on Facebook in August of 2016—while Hillary Clinton was still leading the polls— few people had ever heard of the Russian propaganda group, Internet Research Agency. Not even Facebook itself… Continue reading
Without Noted Dissent, Supreme Court Declines to Hear Blaogojevich Appeal
Here is the order list. I had thought the case presented a meaty issue, but this may have not been the right vehicle to address it. (He tried to raise a similar issue a few years ago.)
“Rokita Locked Out Of GOP Database For Accessing Donor Info”
AP:
Senate candidate Todd Rokita likely violated ethics laws as Indiana’s secretary of state by repeatedly accessing a Republican donor database from his government office, prompting party officials to lock him out of the system until he angrily complained, three… Continue reading
“Billionaire vs. Billionaire: A Tug of War Between 2 Rogue Donors”
NYT:
Two rogue billionaires — one on the left, one on the right — have emerged as the biggest political spenders of the 2018 elections, defying their own parties and pouring millions of dollars into confrontational campaign tactics.
Tom Steyer,… Continue reading
“Koch Flagship Dark Money Organization Received $48.7 Million Gift During Election Year”
MapLight:
A single donation accounted for more than three-quarters of the $63.7 million donated to the Koch brothers’ flagship political organization in 2016, according to tax records obtained by MapLight.
The $48.7 million gift to Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the… Continue reading
“Why Special Counsel Mueller Might Be Interested In Trump’s ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape”
“Supreme Court May Soon Decide When Campaign Check Becomes Bribe”
Bloomberg BNA:
Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers want the Supreme Court to tackle that question when the justices hold their weekly conference Friday. The court could reveal as soon as next week whether it will take the case.
Blagojevich’s former colleagues in… Continue reading
“Was Facebook’s Work With the Trump Campaign Illegal?”
“Stormy Weather for Campaign-Finance Laws”
Brad Smith WSJ oped, with the subhead: “Hush money looks like a personal expense. Treating it as a political one would create a bad precedent.”