Category Archives: campaign finance

“Prosecutors unlikely to charge Trump Org executives, sources say”

July 13, 2019, 12:05 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

Reports from CNN and The Hill on potential campaign-finance charges against executives in the Trump Organization. FWIW, I fully believe that the sources are being accurately quoted, but I’m always pretty skeptical about underlying representations of whether prosecutions are or… Continue reading

“F.E.C. Allows Security Company to Help 2020 Candidates Defend Campaigns”

July 12, 2019, 8:04 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicanery, federal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: The Federal Election Commission said on Thursday that a Silicon Valley security company could immediately start helping 2020 presidential candidates defend their campaigns from the kinds of malicious email attacks that Russian hackers exploited in the 2016 election.The… Continue reading

Breaking: Washington State Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects First Amendment Challenge to Seattle’s Campaign Finance Voucher Program

July 11, 2019, 9:25 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

This seems quite right, and I always thought this challenge was a sure loser.

“Call Time is a Time Suck for Congress”—Post and New Ciara Torres-Spelliscy Blog

July 9, 2019, 9:02 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Looking forward to more blog posts at her new site.

“D.C. Circuit Tosses State Republicans’ Challenge of SEC Political Contributions Rule for FINRA Broker-Dealers”

July 1, 2019, 3:46 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Courthouse News: The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the New York Republican State Committee’s bid to challenge the Securities Exchange Commission’s rule prohibiting broker-dealers acting as “placement agents” from accepting compensation for soliciting government business from… Continue reading

Deborah Hellman: Partisan Gerrymandering and Campaign Finance: An interesting relationship (Rucho symposium)

July 1, 2019, 1:04 pmcampaign finance, redistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Deborah Hellman, part of the symposium on Partisan Gerrymandering after Rucho: Last week’s decision in Rucho v. Common Cause rests on the claim that the Supreme Court cannot determine when districting… Continue reading

The Reverse Stormy Daniels: Rep. Duncan Hunter Claims Money Spent on Affairs Mixed Business and Pleasure and Were Campaign Related

June 30, 2019, 6:48 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Brad Heath: Lawyers for Rep. Duncan Hunter say his affairs with three lobbyists and two congressional staffers "often served an overtly political purpose" and suggests he was simply a "married man mixing business with pleasure." pic.twitter.com/aTiu8AJRyw— Brad Heath (@bradheath)… Continue reading

Amicus Brief Cites Evidence that Super PACs Create the Appearance of Quid Pro Quo Corruption in DC Circuit Case Seeking to Overturn SpeechNow (The Case That Gave Us Super PACs)

June 30, 2019, 12:09 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

From the Robertson, Bergstrand, and Winkelman brief in Lieu v. FEC: Plaintiffs-Appellants have asked the Court to reconsider its decision in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, 599 F.3d 686 (D.C. Cir. 2010), which gave rise to so-called Super PACs and… Continue reading

“When You Use Campaign Funds To Pay For Your Pet Rabbit’s Trip, You’re Doing It Wrong”

June 27, 2019, 1:11 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Ciara Torres Spelliscy for TPM.

“How’s This for a Radical Campaign-Finance Proposal? Follow the Existing Rules.”

June 27, 2019, 1:06 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Eliza Newlin Carney writes.

“Formalism and Realism in Campaign Finance”

June 26, 2019, 8:07 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Jacob Eisler has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Cambridge Law Journal). Here is the abstract: R. v MACKINLAY [2018] UKSC 42, [2018] 3 W.L.R. 556 addressed a narrow question of statutory construction, with implications for two weighty influences upon… Continue reading