Category Archives: campaign finance

“Cohen to Testify That Trump Engaged in Criminal Conduct While in Office”

February 26, 2019, 7:31 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

WSJ: Mr. Cohen’s planned testimony comes 13 months after the Journal first reported that Mr. Cohen paid $130,000 in October 2016 to former adult-film star Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence after she alleged having a… Continue reading

“Brennan Center Report Shows Why New York State’s Democracy Needs Small Donor Public Financing”

February 26, 2019, 7:21 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: In a new report, the Brennan Center provides research and analysis demonstrating New York State’s urgent need to reform its campaign finance system, as well as the most effective solution: small donor public financing. The policy outlined in… Continue reading

“The continuing “Price of Power”: How the political parties leaned on legislative leaders for cash during the 115th Congress”

February 26, 2019, 7:18 amcampaign finance, legislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

New report from Issue One.

AOC Wrongly Relies on Brad Smith’s Article to Make the Opposite Point to the One He Was Making

February 25, 2019, 8:28 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Brad Smith fairly criticizes AOC’s use of his hush money article in the WSJ in her now viral video about campaign money and Washington. I don’t think this undermines many of the points AOC made in her discussion of the… Continue reading

“Elizabeth Warren to Forgo Receptions and Fund-Raisers With Big Donors”

February 25, 2019, 7:45 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday escalated her presidential campaign’s battle against big money in politics, announcing that her bid for the Democratic nomination will forgo traditional fund-raising methods meant to cultivate a candidate’s relationships with the wealthy.The Massachusetts… Continue reading

“FAN 201.1 (First Amendment News) Congressman Raskin Introduces Bill to Limit Reach of “Citizens United””

February 22, 2019, 11:43 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Ron Collins blogs.

“US Supreme Court Won’t Take Challenge To Montana Campaign Finance Law”

February 22, 2019, 11:09 amcampaign finance, campaigns, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Montana Public Radio: Montana’s 2015 campaign finance law survived its biggest test Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, declined to take up a case challenging the state’s Disclose Act. The high court leaves in place a lower court’s… Continue reading

“How Bernie Sanders used the ‘Netflix’ model of political donations to raise millions”

February 21, 2019, 7:14 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Fredreka Schouten for CNN.

“Elections Commission Chief Uses the ‘Nuclear Option’ to Rescue the Agency From Gridlock”

February 20, 2019, 5:20 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Mother Jones: The FEC chairmanship, which rotates among the commissioners each year, is mostly a ceremonial role without any real power. But Weintraub plans to use her veto power to stop the FEC from defending itself in court, since the… Continue reading

Center for Public Integrity Does Deep Dive into Donald Trump’s Campaign Fundraising Machine

February 18, 2019, 10:15 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Donald Trump created a permanent presidential campaign. Here’s how. – Center for Public Integrity Sidebar: https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/donald-trump-army-super-pacs-maga-nonprofits/ Inside Donald Trump’s army of super PACs and MAGA nonprofits – Center for Public Integrity Poll: https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elections/center-for-public-i Center for Public Integrity/Ipsos poll: How should … Continue reading

“Unqualified Ambassadors” (New Piece on Connection of Ambassadorships to Campaign Contributions)

February 15, 2019, 12:20 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Ryan Scoville has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Duke Law Journal). Here is the abstract: In making appointments to the office of ambassador, U.S. presidents often select political supporters from outside the ranks of the State Department’s professional diplomatic… Continue reading

“Democrats Swear off Big Money, but Will It Hurt Their 2020 White House Chances?”

February 14, 2019, 1:02 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Good Amanda Becker piece for Reuters: Legally, Super PACs are supposed to operate independently of candidates and cannot contribute to them directly. In reality, they often are run by donors close to the candidates and their campaigns.David Donnelly, president of… Continue reading

“Manafort-Linked PAC Failed To Report $1 Million And The FEC Wants To Know Why”

February 13, 2019, 1:43 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

TPM: A super PAC closely linked to Paul Manafort is facing questions about why it failed to report a $1 million contribution received just before the 2016 presidential election.In a Tuesday letter, the Federal Election Commission asked the Rebuilding… Continue reading

“‘It’s the metric, 100 percent.’ Democratic presidential hopefuls increasingly see small-dollar donations as a sign of viability.”

February 11, 2019, 8:59 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

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