Category Archives: campaign finance

As Supreme Court Sets TikTok Case for Oral Argument, Senator McConnell, Champion of First Amendment in Citizens United, Files Amicus Brief Saying Government Can Shut Down Platform to stop “deployment of subversive enemy propaganda through algorithmic curation.”

December 18, 2024, 12:42 pmcampaign finance, First Amendment theory, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Quite the amicus brief from the purportedly free-speech Senator McConnell. The Supreme Court set a very expedited schedule for oral argument in the TikTok case (unlike its dilatory tactics in the Trump immunity case).

TikTok Goes to Supreme Court Seeking Emergency Order to Block Law Requiring Sale/Shutdown, Citing Rejection of the Antidistortion Interest in Campaign Finance Cases

December 16, 2024, 1:02 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

You can find the filing here (via NBC News). The relevant discussion of the antidistortion interest is on pages 25-26. See my earlier post on the parallels to the campaign finance cases. UPDATE: Here is the docket.

“Open-Government Nonprofits Are Dying Off Just When They’re Needed Most”

December 16, 2024, 10:59 amcampaign finance, election law bizRick Hasen

Daniel Schuman for The Bulwark: OPENSECRETS, THE NONPROFIT RESEARCH ORGANIZATION dedicated to disclosing the role of money in politics, laid off one-third of its staff last month due to financial difficulties. This sparked understandable concern in newsrooms, think tanks,… Continue reading

“New York City mayor’s campaign denied millions in public matching funds”

December 16, 2024, 8:12 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Politico: Election officials on Monday denied a request from New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ 2025 campaign for millions in public matching dollars. The decision — based on bookkeeping irregularities and a federal criminal case against Adams involving straw donors — deals… Continue reading

“What If Free Speech Means Banning TikTok?”

December 13, 2024, 12:26 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Alan Rozenshtein in The Atlantic: But in its decision, the court did something unexpected. In addition to crediting the government’s national-security arguments, it highlighted an important tension within pro-free-expression arguments: the right to access and speak on the platform of… Continue reading

“Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Plans to Donate $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration; The tycoon, long a Trump foe, is among tech leaders seeking improved ties with the president-elect”

December 13, 2024, 7:37 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WSJ: Amazon.com is planning a $1 million donation to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, as founder Jeff Bezos and other tech leaders shore up ties with the incoming administration. The donation is being prepared as Bezos, Amazon’s … Continue reading

Republican Party Suit to Blow Up Limits on Coordinated Spending Between Political Parties and Candidates Reaches the Supreme Court: I Expect They Will Take the Case and Further Deregulate Campaign Financing

December 12, 2024, 7:16 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

When the en banc Sixth Circuit decided this case, I wrote: “I have been waiting for this issue to get back to the Supreme Court for a while, and this is just the vehicle that could get it there.… Continue reading

“Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Donates $1 Million to Trump’s Inaugural Fund”

December 12, 2024, 6:51 amcampaign finance, cheap speechRick Hasen

WSJ: Meta Platforms has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the latest step by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to bolster his once-fraught relationship with the incoming president. The donation, confirmed by the company, is a departure… Continue reading

Dec. 12 Torres-Spelliscy Online Book Event on “Corporatocracy”

December 10, 2024, 8:15 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Over at the Brennan Center: The 2024 election underscored the growing power of big money in politics. This year’s races broke spending records, with megadonors backing candidates not only to push their special interests but to buy government access and… Continue reading

“Trump set for $1 million ‘candlelight’ donor meetings after last campaign”

December 10, 2024, 7:11 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

WaPo: The election is over, but the seven-figure candlelight dinners are back. Make America Great Again, Inc., the super PAC that spent more than $450 million to elect Donald Trump this year, will host another “candlelight” meal with the president-elect… Continue reading

“Revealed: the tech bosses who poured $394.1m into US election – and how they compared to Elon Musk”

December 7, 2024, 8:57 pmcampaign financeJustin Levitt

The Guardian parses the FEC tech-sector filings beyond Musk. Your reminder that FEC filings facilitate the drunkard’s search under the streetlight: they show what they show, but only where the light is good enough to see.

“‘It’s a very dangerous strategy’: The controversial tactic super PACs used to boost Democrats this year”

December 7, 2024, 8:51 pmcampaign finance, political parties, third partiesJustin Levitt

This Politico story highlights money spent on third-party candidates thought to boost Democratic chances of victory. But I’m genuinely pretty confused by the reporting: there’s a claim that the tactic “was used significantly more this year than in other recent… Continue reading

Limits on coordinated spending between candidates and parties back at SCOTUS

December 7, 2024, 8:50 pmcampaign financeJustin Levitt

Rick said back in September he’d been waiting for this one, and now there’s a petition for cert. Don’t know whether that counts as an early holiday present.