Category Archives: campaign finance

“Facebook Fallout Deals Blow to Mercers’ Political Clout”

April 11, 2018, 9:08 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Last month, a friend of the wealthy conservative donor Rebekah Mercer arrived at Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters. His task: Find out what — if anything — could repair relations between Facebook, the world’s biggest social media company, and Cambridge… Continue reading

“Federal complaint alleges Rick Scott’s PAC illegally skirted fundraising restrictions”

April 10, 2018, 7:36 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Tampa Bay Times: Less than 24 hours after Rick Scott announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, he faces a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing him of breaking election laws by raising and spending unlimited campaign donations to prepare for his… Continue reading

“Trump attorney Cohen is being investigated for possible bank fraud, campaign finance violations”

April 9, 2018, 8:21 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Michael Cohen, the longtime attorney of President Trump, is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, according to three people with knowledge of the case. FBI agents on Monday raided Cohen’s Manhattan office,… Continue reading

“Getting Foreign Funds Out of America’s Elections”

April 9, 2018, 2:00 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Brennan Center: Getting Foreign Funds Out of America’s Elections Ian Vandewalker, Lawrence Norden April 6, 2018 Russia-linked political ads on every major internet platform. The alleged flow of Russian money to the NRA. The Trump campaign’s solicitation of donations… Continue reading

Arizona Republican Legislators Celebrate Blocking Local Ballot Measure Requiring Campaign Finance Disclosure

April 6, 2018, 9:23 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

What a disgrace. Republican state legislators in Arizona are celebrating blocking voters' right to know who is influencing their elections even after 91% of Tempe residents voted for that transparency. https://t.co/OKjBkisEho #AZLeg https://t.co/SIHa5GOOPj — Tyler Creighton (@tylercreighton) April 6, 2018

“The rise of the anti-PAC Democrat”

April 6, 2018, 8:11 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

News Hour: A growing number of Democrats running for Congress in 2018 are foregoing contributions from political action committees, opting for a more grassroots approach to fundraising in a bid to appeal to the party’s progressive base.

“How to Build a Campaign Finance Case Against Donald Trump and Michael Cohen”

April 5, 2018, 7:51 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Liam Brennan, who prosecuted former Ct. governor John Rowland, has this Slate piece.

“EXCLUSIVE: Robert Mercer backed a secretive group that worked with Facebook, Google to target anti-Muslim ads at swing voters”

April 5, 2018, 7:32 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Great work by Open Secrets: As the final weeks of the 2016 elections ticked down, voters in swing states like Nevada and North Carolina began seeing eerie promotional travel ads as they scrolled through their Facebook feeds or clicked through… Continue reading

“Issue One and Campaign Legal Center file IRS complaint against major ‘dark money’ group”

April 4, 2018, 9:06 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: Today, Issue One and the Campaign Legal Center called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to enforce penalties against Americans for Job Security — one of the top spenders of political “dark money” in recent years — for failing… Continue reading

“Beyond Repair: FEC Reform and Deadlock Deference”

April 4, 2018, 8:58 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Dan Tokaji has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Democracy by the People). Here is the abstract: Composed of six commissioners, three aligned with each major party, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) consistently stalemates on critical questions of campaign finance… Continue reading

“Public Support for Campaign Finance Reform: The Role of Policy Narratives, Cultural Predispositions, and Political Knowledge in Collective Policy Preference Formation”

April 3, 2018, 12:43 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Paul D. Jorgensen , Geoboo Song, and Michael D. Jones have writen this article for Social Science Quarterly. Here is the abstract: Objective We use the variation in public support for campaign finance reform (CFR) to determine factors important to… Continue reading

“Don’t let big and dark money ‘drown out the truth and drown out your voice’”

April 3, 2018, 7:43 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Katrina vanden Heuvel WaPo column.

“CFI Launches Groundbreaking Database of 50 State Laws”

April 3, 2018, 7:29 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: he Campaign Finance Institute is pleased to release a groundbreaking new tool, “CFI’s Historical Database of State Campaign Finance Laws”. The database covers all of the states’ campaign finance laws every two years since 1996. It is… Continue reading

“Companies can expect political money grab ahead of midterms”

April 1, 2018, 12:54 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bruce Freed oped in The Hill: It doesn’t take a crystal ball to tell the implications of Democrat Conor Lamb’s special election victory just a few weeks ago for congressional races in November: Corporations should expect a hypercharged grab for… Continue reading