Category Archives: campaign finance

“‘Dark money in politics an even darker place’ now, judges warn”

December 14, 2022, 7:11 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

WaPo: The partisan split makes the FEC “an unusual agency,” said Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic appointee. “Everyone anticipated from the get-go that that was going to make enforcement challenging, and they built in this fail-safe provision that complainants could… Continue reading

With Two Judges Not Participating and Two Dissenting, D.C. Circuit Will Not Review En Banc Decision That Allows a Minority of FEC Commissioners to Block Judicial Review By Bare Assertion of “Prosecutorial Discretion”

December 12, 2022, 2:40 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

This is a travesty and renders the judicial review procedures of FEC actions mostly meaningless. Judge Millett’s dissent from the denial of en banc review begins: Essential to the rule of law is the principle that a governmental agency cannot… Continue reading

Federal court tosses challenge to FEC’s decision to accept paperwork for Trump’s presidential candidacy

December 6, 2022, 2:37 pmcampaign financeDerek Muller

In Castro v. FEC, a pro se FEC-registered candidate for the 2024 presidential election challenged the FEC’s decision to accept Donald Trump’s candidacy for election, arguing that Trump is not qualified to serve. A federal district court just dismissed … Continue reading

“FEC scales back digital ad transparency rule after backlash”

November 29, 2022, 4:41 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Axios: Federal election regulators are scaling back a major digital ad transparency measure after an effort to speed it through the regulatory process drew intense internal and external pushback, records show. Why it matters: A little-noticed, two-word change to a… Continue reading

“Yes, McCarthy is still House Republican leader. Who’s the new GOP whip?”

November 17, 2022, 5:20 amcampaign financeTabatha Abu El-Haj

Monkey Cage has an interesting account of the procedures and politics that lead to Tom Emmers’ (R. Minn) election as GOP whip. Beyond a summary of the voting process, a key piece of the analysis is that Emmers has been… Continue reading

The Known and Unknown Donor Thumbprints on Our Political Choices

November 16, 2022, 2:18 pmcampaign financedark money, Policy ReponsivenessTabatha Abu El-Haj

Donor thumbprints are all over our choices and our opportunities to make political choices. And Americans don’t have a lot of political options when it comes to reducing their influence—thanks to the Supreme Court (a product of their influence). This… Continue reading

Proposed FEC Rulemaking on “Internet Communication Disclaimers and Definition of ‘Public Communication'”

November 11, 2022, 3:32 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

This draft is on the agenda for Thursday’s FEC meeting.

“Fueled by Billionaires, Political Spending Shatters Records Again”

November 3, 2022, 6:58 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Fueled by an expanding class of billionaires, political spending on the 2022 midterm elections will shatter records at the state and federal levels, with much of it from largely unregulated super PACs financed with enormous checks written mainly by… Continue reading

“In Midterm TV Ad Wars, Sticker Shock Costs Republicans”

October 14, 2022, 6:36 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Political candidates are protected under a federal law that allows them to pay the lowest price available for broadcast ads. Super PACs have no such protections, and Republicans have been more reliant on super PACs this year because their… Continue reading

“2022 CPA-Zicklin Index Expanded to Russell 1000; Dramatic Gap in Political Disclosure and Accountability Between S&P 500 and Smaller Companies”

October 11, 2022, 1:50 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: Today, the nation’s premier benchmarking of U.S. companies for transparency and accountability of their political spending expands its coverage, from rating S&P 500 companies to evaluating the entire Russell 1000.The CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability is… Continue reading

“Facebook intentionally violated WA campaign finance law 822 times”

October 7, 2022, 11:41 amcampaign finance, UncategorizedFranita Tolson

The Seattle Times reports.

“‘Dark money erodes public trust,’ Biden says as he pushes disclosure legislation”

September 21, 2022, 7:53 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

President Biden pushes the DISCLOSE Act.

“The Unique Appearance of Corruption in Personal Loan Repayments”

September 14, 2022, 11:02 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

John Martin has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Cornell Law Review). Here is the abstract: Under U.S. campaign finance jurisprudence, electoral candidates have the right to self-fund their campaigns without limitation. The majority of self-funded candidates do so by… Continue reading

“Trump’s Post-Election Fund-Raising Comes Under Scrutiny by Justice Dept.”

September 9, 2022, 7:22 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: A federal grand jury in Washington is examining the formation of — and spending by — a fund-raising operation created by Donald J. Trump after his loss in the 2020 election as he was soliciting millions of dollars by… Continue reading