Category Archives: campaign finance

My New Draft: “Faux Campaign Finance Regulation and the Pathway to American Oligarchy”

April 28, 2025, 7:32 amcampaign finance, Plutocrats UnitedRick Hasen

I have posted this draft for an upcoming conference on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The collapse of campaign finance regulation in the United States has facilitated a path toward oligarchic power redistribution. Americans did not adopt the current set… Continue reading

“Trump-aligned club for the ultra rich launches in Washington”

April 27, 2025, 6:43 amcampaign finance, lobbyingCampaign financeTravis Crum

Politico: A new club is coming to Washington — and you probably can’t get in. Donald Trump Jr., megadonor Omeed Malik and several other investors are launching an invite-only club that costs more than half a million to join… Continue reading

“The Federal Election Commission Is Facing a De Facto Shutdown”

April 26, 2025, 7:52 amcampaign financeTravis Crum

NOTUS: The Federal Election Commission will soon lose its powers to enforce and regulate campaign finance laws, NOTUS has learned. This de facto FEC shutdown will be triggered when Republican Commissioner Allen Dickerson resigns on Wednesday, leaving the six-member… Continue reading

“George Santos’s Closing Act: A Prison Sentence of More Than 7 Years”

April 25, 2025, 1:17 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryTravis Crum

NYT: George Santos, the former Republican congressman from New York whose outlandish fabrications and criminal schemes fueled an unforeseen rise and spectacular fall, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison on Friday. His 87-month sentence was… Continue reading

“Trump Says He Would Sign Bill Banning Congressional Stock Trades”

April 25, 2025, 6:37 amcampaign finance, chicanery, conflict of interest lawsTravis Crum

Bloomberg: President Donald Trump said he would “absolutely” sign a bill banning congressional stock trading, saying he was concerned lawmakers could be using insider information for an advantage. “I would be okay with it,” Trump said in an interview with Time… Continue reading

“Trump to target ActBlue in presidential memorandum”

April 24, 2025, 9:12 amcampaign finance, chicaneryTravis Crum

Politico: In a shot at ActBlue, the left’s major online donation platform, President Donald Trump plans to sign a presidential memorandum on Thursday cracking down on foreign contributions in American elections, according to a person familiar with the policy… Continue reading

“Meet the top donors to Trump’s $239 million inauguration fund”

April 24, 2025, 6:37 ambribery, campaign financeTravis Crum

Wash. Post: President Donald Trump raised a record $239 million for his 2025 inauguration celebrations, propelled by contributions from corporations and ultra-wealthy individuals — including more than a dozen people Trump has nominated to a variety of roles in… Continue reading

“Trump to Host Dinner With Top Holders of His Memecoin”

April 23, 2025, 11:46 ambribery, campaign financeTravis Crum

Bloomberg: President Donald Trump will have dinner with the top 220 holders of the Trump memecoin, the issuers of the cryptocurrency announced on Wednesday. At the “intimate private dinner” on May 22 at his private club in Washington, Trump… Continue reading

“Missouri campaign watchdog is once again unable to function due to vacancies”

April 23, 2025, 5:01 amcampaign finance, ethics investigationsTravis Crum

Missouri Independent: Last fall, St. Louis attorney Brad Ketcher read the news that a Republican candidate for the Missouri Senate was using money from his church to help fund his campaign. As the chief of staff to former Democratic… Continue reading

“Trump Raised $239 Million for Inauguration, More Than Doubling His Own Record”

April 21, 2025, 7:05 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump raised $239 million for his inauguration festivities in January, a norm-shattering amount fueled by corporate America’s desire to curry favor with a famously transactional president. The total, disclosed in a filing with the Federal Election Commission on… Continue reading

“Elon Musk focuses donations on GOP lawmakers targeting judges”

April 16, 2025, 5:54 pmauthoritarian threats in US, campaign financeRick Hasen

WaPo: Elon Musk targeted a flurry of money in late March to support Republican members of Congress who endorsed legislation to impeach judges or restrict their power, new filings revealed, bolstering his own push to punish judges who rule against… Continue reading

“Newer Problems in an Old, Broken Campaign Finance Regime—A Post-2024 Reflection”

April 16, 2025, 12:08 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

John Martin has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, University of Pittsburgh Law Review). Here is the abstract: Money in politics is ever-increasing in the United States, and the ways in which it manifests is ever-changing. The 2024 election cycle… Continue reading

“Trump IRS Pick Was Just Enriched By Tax Schemers; New documents show Billy Long’s $130,000 personal debt was suddenly paid off by donors at firms policed by the tax agency he’d lead.”

April 16, 2025, 7:22 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

The Lever: President Donald Trump’s choice for Internal Revenue Service director just had his six-figure debt paid off by campaign donors whose firms have significant, often contentious business before the tax agency he would lead, according to federal records reviewed… Continue reading

My New One at Slate: “What Elon Musk Won in Wisconsin”

April 3, 2025, 1:12 pmcampaign finance, judicial elections, Plutocrats United, redistrictingRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: Democrats and progressives rightly celebrated the victory of liberal Susan Crawford over Trump-endorsed Brad Schimel for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. But the left is prematurely gloating over how… Continue reading