Category Archives: campaign finance
“New Records Shed Light on Donald Trump’s $25,000 Gift to Florida Official”
Another A1-NYT on Trump-Bondi, with a timing detail which Trump supporters will surely highlight:
The Sentinel’s report, which was published on Sept. 13, 2013, paraphrased Ms. Meale’s response and took it a step further, saying that Ms. Bondi’s… Continue reading
“U.S. Supreme Court could announce Wisconsin John Doe decision in October”
Will There Be an Investigation of the WI John Doe Leak?
From the same MJS article I earlier linked to:
“The public release of this John Doe evidence without court authorization is not merely a violation of the John Doe secrecy order; it is a crime under Wisconsin law,” Chisholm said.… Continue reading
“GOP eases lead paint laws after $750,000 in donations”
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled Legislature approved a measure aimed at retroactively shielding paint makers from liability after a billionaire owner of a lead producer contributed $750,000 to a political group that provided crucial support to Walker… Continue reading
“McDonnell and Anti-Corruption’s Last Stand”
Jacob Eisler has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, UC Davis Law Review). Here is the abstract:
In McDonnell v. United States, the Supreme Court constrained the reach of federal anti-corruption law, declared the inevitability and even desirability of representatives… Continue reading
“The rise of GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer”
WaPo reports:
Mercer exemplifies a new breed of activist donors that has risen since the Supreme Court kicked off a flood of big money into elections in 2010. As one of the most influential figures in Trump’s orbit, she… Continue reading
Donald Trump Gave at Least $15,000 in Undisclosed Money to Help WI Republicans
A nugget buried in the must-read Guardian John Doe story:
good example of the way things worked was the donation made by Donald Trump. On 3 April 2012, two months before the governor faced the electorate, Walker flew to New… Continue reading
Wow. Wow. Wow: Guardian Publishes WI “John Doe” Documents, Showing WI Republicans Panicked over Losing State Supreme Court Control
This is this week’s must read. And it is bound to get attention as the Supreme Court of the US considers whether to take up John Doe case.
I wish I had time to go through the 1500 pages of… Continue reading
“Small donor democracy? Don’t count on it”
Bob Mutch:
Politics requires organization. The problem with small-donor programs is that they are organized to increase the number of small donors, but not to organize the donors themselves. Millions of unorganized donors are a statistic, not a political force.… Continue reading
“The Transparency-Privacy Trade-Off (or Bargain)”
“Billboard magnate pours fortune into unusual single-handed effort for Trump”
Teddy Schleifer for CNN:
A billionaire backing Donald Trump is taking advertising into his own hands.
Stephen Adams, a billboard magnate who made his fortune in a half-dozen different business ventures over the last five decades, is pouring hundreds of… Continue reading
“Judge orders campaign-finance question put on Miami-Dade ballot”
Miami Herald:
A judge Friday ordered that Miami-Dade voters get a chance to decide on new rules for campaign donations, reversing a decision by county commissioners to keep the measure off the November ballot because of alleged legal flaws.
Circuit… Continue reading
Commissioner Weintraub Proposal Concerning Foreign Money on FEC Agenda
Read the memo about a proposed rulemaking:
This proposal is narrowly drawn to examine just the role of foreign political spending in U.S. elections post-Citizens United, a topic for which I hope there is greater agreement among Commissioners. No member… Continue reading