Category Archives: campaign finance
“Surge in LLC contributions brings more mystery about true donors”
Open Secrets:
Donald Trump’s inaugural committee did well by almost any standard: Doubling the previous record for cash raised to fund festivities around a new president’s swearing-in, it took in contributions from every major sector of the economy, and from… Continue reading
“Judge says ex-Congressman Bob Beauprez’s group must pay $17,000 in campaign finance fines”
Colorado Independent:
Former Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, who ran for governor in 2014, should have registered a nonprofit as a political committee, a judge ruled.
The decision came in response to a dark-money lawsuit filed by Matt Arnold, a… Continue reading
“Schock wants campaign finance charges dropped”
The Hill:
Former Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), who has been indicted on two-dozen fraud-related charges, wants a federal court to dismiss five counts on the falsifying of campaign finance records.
His lawyers at McGuireWoods argue that the charges infringe on… Continue reading
“Should ‘Dark’ Money Power the Resistance to Trump?”
Eliza Newlin Carney for TAP:
Watchdogs have faulted the IRS for failing to put the brakes on political spending by tax-exempt groups, which operate outside the disclosure rules. Technically, 501(c)(4) social welfare groups may not focus on politics as their… Continue reading
“Klobuchar & Hirono Probe Thapar on Money in Politics”
PAW:
One of the several concerns that have been raised about Sixth Circuit nominee Amul Thapar centers on a case in which he used a severely flawed First Amendment analysis to strike down Kentucky’s ban on state judicial candidates contributing… Continue reading
Millions Spent on Soda Tax Fight in Santa Fe, NM
Albuquerque Journal:
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made a $400,000 cash donation to the political committee supporting the proposed tax on sugary beverages in Santa Fe, bringing his investment in the effort to more than $1.13 million.… Continue reading
Free Speech for People, Prof John Coates File Complaint Against CITGO Contributions to Trump Inaugural Committee
Watchdog group Free Speech For People, joined by Harvard Law Professor John Coates, just filed an FEC complaint against Citgo and the Trump inaugural committee alleging that federal law prohibits “foreign nationals” from donating to presidential inaugural committees.
Read the … Continue reading
TrackYourCompany.Org
Interesting new tool from the Center for Political Accountability: a corporate political spending database.
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Alabama Campaign Finance Case
Today without noted dissent the Supreme Court denied cert. in Alabama Democratic Conference v. Marshall, a First Amendment campaign finance challenge to Alabama law brought by Democrats (unusual these days). The cert petition (signed by Bob Bauer, Rick Pildes,… Continue reading
“‘Dark money’ vs. corporate cash: Democratic rivals clash over funding”
On Party Line Vote, FEC Rejects Continued Exemption from Disclosure for Socialist Workers Party
The Supreme Court has long recognized that a group facing a realistic threat of harassment for revealing its donors or vendors has a First Amendment right to exemption from generally applicable campaign finance laws. The case establishing this principle, Bro… Continue reading
“Trump Inaugural Drew Big Dollars From Donors With Vested Interests”
NYT:
The casino magnate and philanthropist Sheldon G. Adelson wants some big things from the Trump administration: banning the online poker sites that compete with his luxury casinos, for example, and moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.… Continue reading