Category Archives: campaign finance

“Michael Cohen Plea Agreement: Possible Meanings of the Campaign Finance Counts”

August 22, 2018, 1:09 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bob Bauer at Lawfare: Of course, in a case involving massive alleged financial and tax fraud, there is still the question of why prosecutors troubled themselves with campaign finance violations. The amounts spent represent a sliver of the total spent… Continue reading

“Campaign Finance Transparency Affects Legislators’ Election Outcomes and Behavior”

August 22, 2018, 1:06 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Abby Wood and Christian Grose have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Do audits by executive agencies impact the behavior of those audited? Does revealing negative information about candidates affect electoral results and behavior? Institutions that encourage… Continue reading

“Michael Cohen’s Guilty Plea Directly Implicates Donald Trump in a Felony”

August 21, 2018, 5:22 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: For the first time since the Trump presidency began, President Donald Trump is in some real legal jeopardy, providing potential grounds for his eventual impeachment, if not indictment. Most people watching… Continue reading

California: “Walters: ‘Biggest rollback of campaign finance law’ weighed”

August 19, 2018, 8:59 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Dan Walters: They clearly aspire to re-establish the centralized legislative leadership that had been eroded by term limits, and to do so, they want bigger roles in amassing and dispensing campaign funds to their favored legislators and candidates, ala Unruh… Continue reading

Michael Cohen May Be Indicted for Bank Fraud and Campaign Finance Violations by the End of the Month

August 19, 2018, 8:50 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Federal authorities investigating whether President Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, committed bank and tax fraud have zeroed in on well over $20 million in loans obtained by taxi businesses that he and his family own,… Continue reading

“‘Oh that’s cool — do that!’: Super PACs use new trick to hide donors”

August 17, 2018, 8:15 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: t wasn’t the first super PAC to pull that trick: The scheme is part of a sharp escalation in super PACs avoiding reporting requirements and keeping voters in the dark about their funding until after key elections. Two other… Continue reading

“The Chance of Michael Cohen Facing Criminal Campaign Finance Charges Just Went Up”

August 16, 2018, 5:06 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. A snippet: The new Wall Street Journal report describes some apparent documentary evidence. According to the Journal, Daniels’ former lawyer Keith Davidson had approached Cohen in September 2016 about securing a payment from… Continue reading

Despite Enthusiasm for Women Candidates, Gender Gap on Campaign Cash

August 16, 2018, 4:15 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: Even as a record number of women run for office this year, female congressional candidates overall are lagging behind their male counterparts when it comes to pulling in campaign cash, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal campaign… Continue reading

Supreme Court Requests Response in Austin Campaign Finance Limits Case

August 16, 2018, 4:11 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

From an emailed press release: This week, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an order requiring the City of Austin to respond to the request filed in July by Don Zimmerman, former District 6 Councilmember, seeking High Court… Continue reading

Google: “Introducing a new transparency report for political ads”

August 16, 2018, 7:47 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Blog post: We first launched our Transparency Report in 2010 with the goal of fostering important conversations about the relationship between governments, companies, and the free flow of information on the internet. Over the years, we’ve evolved the report, adding… Continue reading

“Nate McMurray doesn’t like ‘giant super PACs.’ But will they be his unlikely salvation?”

August 12, 2018, 2:48 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

CPI: Then, on Wednesday, everything changed. That was the day the feds arrested Collins and charged him with securities fraud, wire fraud and making false statements to the FBI. McMurray’s phone blew up — with new friends, congressmen, aides to… Continue reading

“For Voters Sick of Money in Politics, a New Pitch: No PAC Money Accepted”

August 12, 2018, 2:37 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Campaign finance was once famously dismissed by Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, as being of no greater concern to American voters than “static cling.” But since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 opened the floodgates for… Continue reading

Secret Spending on Both Sides of Michigan Governor’s Race

August 12, 2018, 2:31 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

New Yorker: One day this summer, in the midst of this escalation, while he was scrolling through political sites on his phone, a Democratic operative in Lansing named Bob McCann came across a fifteen-second video advertisement attacking Whitmer. McCann spent… Continue reading

“The Trump White House’s new hush-money problem”

August 11, 2018, 2:46 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Aaron Blake for WaPo: In this case, about the only campaign finance question would be whether this would be considered a legitimate campaign expense, said election-law expert Rick Hasen of the University of California, Irvine. “I’m not sure I’ve seen… Continue reading