Category Archives: campaign finance
“Manafort Campaign-Finance Charges Dismissed by Deadlocked FEC”
“Foreign spending in our elections is a threat to our national sovereignty”
FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub with this WaPo oped:
Concerns about foreign attempts to intervene in our political system date back to the founding of our republic. As chair of the Federal Election Commission, I am gravely concerned about ongoing… Continue reading
I Testified at House Judiciary Committee on Foreign Interference in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and the Implications of the Mueller Report and President Trump’s Statements Welcoming 2020 Foreign Help
My Written Testimony begins:
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to speak about a matter that is among the greatest concerns I have had in twenty-five years of researching and teaching about American election law and… Continue reading
“Trump said it’s OK to take campaign dirt from foreign powers. Is it legal?”
LAT:
Does receiving ‘dirt’ on an opponent count?Daniel P. Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University, said he did not believe so.“My view is that an in-kind contribution has to have some determinate economic value,” he said.Brad Smith,… Continue reading
N.J.: “Gov. Signs Dark Money Bill, Expects Lawmakers to Roll Back Problem Parts”
“Unenforced Campaign Laws Will Be Broken Again”
“Free Speech For People Sues Federal Election Commission for Failing to Investigate Trump and Trump Campaign’s Role in McDougal Hush Money Payoff”
Release:
Free Speech For People has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission for failing to investigate a $150,000 “hush money” payment made in 2016 to Karen McDougal, one of President Trump’s former mistresses, under federal campaign finance law.… Continue reading
Watch Trevor Potter and Shan Wu Talk About the Illegality of Accepting Foreign Government Assistance in American Campaigns
Here on the News Hour (beginning around the 11 minute mark).
“Margaret Hunter admits guilt in campaign-finance scandal”
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Years of cavalier spending of her husband’s political contributions culminated in a guilty plea Thursday for Margaret Hunter, the wife of Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter who was co-indicted last year in a sweeping campaign-finance investigation.During a change-of-plea… Continue reading
Trump Says He Would Accept Foreign Government In-Kind Contributions of Opposition Research in the 2020 Elections, in Violation of American Law
Watch the clip:
EXCLUSIVE: Pres. Trump tells @GStephanopoulos he wouldn't necessarily alert the FBI if approached by foreign figures with information on his 2020 opponent: "It’s not an interference. They have information. I think I’d take it." https://t.co/7gvoAViw9r pic.twitter.com/k5Yqd9YxdC… Continue reading
“These voters are using democracy vouchers to influence Seattle’s City Council races”
“NJ’s secret big-money donors will now be named after Phil Murphy backs down”
Gannett:
Big-spending “dark money” political groups in New Jersey will have to reveal who is funding them after all, lawmakers agreed Monday.Gov. Phil Murphy, despite vetoing the exact same legislation last month, has now committed to signing it, but his… Continue reading
In 1987, Mitch McConnell, Now a Leading Opponent of Any Government Limits on Money in Politics, Proposed a Constitutional Amendment to Limit a Candidate’s Use of Personal Funds and Independent Expenditures as “Distort[ing]” the Political Process
This is history I did not know.
Watch the video:
Thanks. Didn’t realize there was more than one page. I wonder what @rickhasen thinks of that proposed amendment.— Mike Stern (@mls1776) June 7, 2019