Category Archives: campaign finance

“CLC Lawsuit Demands DOJ Provide Documents Relating to Private Prison Company GEO and Trump Super PAC”

June 15, 2017, 6:08 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a lawsuit demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) turn over documents relating to the private prison company GEO Group and a super PAC that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence… Continue reading

“Justice Neil Gorsuch offers early clues to Supreme Court tenure”

June 15, 2017, 8:05 amcampaign finance, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Richard Wolf for USA Today: More signs of his emerging role came in May, when Gorsuch sided with Justice Clarence Thomas in urging the court to consider whether to lift a ban on unlimited federal election spending by political parties.… Continue reading

Today’s Must-Read: BuzzFeed on Dan Backer’s “Scam PACs” and the Hyperpartisan Websites Touting Them

June 15, 2017, 7:42 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Great investigation by Craig Silverman and Tarini Parti: Those three groups — Great America PAC, Great America Alliance and Stop Hillary PAC— have been cited or promoted in some way in more than 110 articles on AAN dating back to… Continue reading

“Trump Campaign Statements Protected in Travel Ban Case, Group Says”

June 14, 2017, 10:39 amcampaign finance, campaigns, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: Relying on statements President Donald Trump made during his campaign to argue against his proposed immigration restrictions could chill free speech in campaigns, posing “an unacceptable risk to First Amendment interests,” according to a new brief filed with… Continue reading

MO: “Questions mount on list of charity donors at center of Greitens ethics fine”

June 13, 2017, 5:32 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

KC Star: Greitens, a first-term Republican, agreed to pay a $1,000 fine in late April for failing to disclose that his campaign had obtained a list of donors to The Mission Continues, a charity he founded in 2007. But… Continue reading

“Avoiding the Seduction of the Dark Side”

June 12, 2017, 8:21 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs.

Sheldon Adelson Organizing Super PAC to Support Republican Redistricting Efforts in 2020

June 10, 2017, 9:39 amcampaign finance, redistrictingRick Hasen

Teddy Schleifer for CNN: One person filling some of the fundraising leadership void left by Trump: Sheldon Adelson, the party’s largest contributor, who is preparing for possible headwinds ahead of 2018, according to a person with knowledge of his plans.… Continue reading

“Bernie Sanders and Rick Hasen Are Two Sides of the Same Defective Coin on Free Speech”

June 9, 2017, 8:24 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Joe Albanese for the Center for Competitive Politics. My rebuttal.

“More than $200,000 raised in Seattle Democracy Vouchers, so far”

June 8, 2017, 7:14 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

KING5: The August primary is less than two months away, and if you’re registered to vote in the city of Seattle, you may have money to use that you’ve forgotten about. Remember the new Democracy Voucher program? So far, more… Continue reading

“U.S. District Court Strikes Down Kentucky Campaign Finance Law that Let Individuals Give More to Democratic and Republican Committees than Committees of Other Parties”

June 6, 2017, 9:52 pmballot access, campaign finance, third partiesRick Hasen

BAN: On June 6, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman, a Carter appointee, struck down a Kentucky campaign finance contribution limit that discriminated in favor of the Republican and Democratic Parties, and against all other parties. Shickel v… Continue reading

“How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise”

June 4, 2017, 3:17 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Must-read WaPo: Long before Trump promised to build a wall, ban Muslims and abandon the Paris climate accord, Horowitz used his tax-exempt group to rail against illegal immigrants, the spread of Islam and global warming. Center officials described Hillary Clinton… Continue reading

“The Price of Power: How Political Parties Squeeze Influential Lawmakers to Boost their Campaign Coffers”

May 30, 2017, 7:41 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Issue One: A new report from Issue One called “The Price of Power” details how the chairs and ranking members of the most influential committees in the U.S. House of Representatives are increasingly being pressured by party leadership to funnel… Continue reading

“FEC Memo Says Cruz Declines to Amend Disclosure Reports”

May 24, 2017, 8:11 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has refused demands by the Federal Election Commission to provide more public details about more than $1 million in bank loans that helped finance his original campaign for the Senate in 2012, according to… Continue reading