Category Archives: campaign finance

“Miriam Adelson’s Unfinished Business”

May 20, 2024, 7:23 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

New York goes deep: Money to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Money to the Zionist Organization of America. Money to the Republican Jewish Committee. So much money up and down the ballot and across the globe that a candidate’s… Continue reading

“RFK Jr. uses major cash infusion from his running mate to fund ballot access efforts”

May 18, 2024, 7:05 amcampaign finance, third partiesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Politico. RFK, Jr.’s campaign currently depends on money from his VP, Nicole Shanahan. In April, she contributed $ 8 million. Independent presidential candidate + wealthy donor as VP is a well-established pattern to avoid campaign contribution limits. In 1980,… Continue reading

FEC Commissioner Lindenbaum Issues Statement Urging Congress to Remove Requirement of Public Disclosure of Street Addresses of Campaign Contributors

May 16, 2024, 3:29 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

See this statement, issued partially in response to Commissioner Dickerson’s proposal on making it easier to get exceptions to disclosure for those facing a risk of harassment.

New Index for California Campaign Finance Reformers

May 16, 2024, 6:13 amcampaign financeCalifornia, State and local lawTabatha Abu El-Haj

California Common Cause has released a first-of-its-kind index and report on campaign finance laws in all California cities. The report, Local Dollars and Local Democracy, is an analysis of all campaign finance reforms in California cities, as of December 2022.… Continue reading

CNN [UPDATE: and ABC] will host presidential debate with Biden, Trump, but some questions about its criteria

May 15, 2024, 8:55 amcampaign financeDerek Muller

Last November, I blogged some questions about the future of the Commission of Presidential Debates. And my instincts were right. We learned today that the Biden and Trump campaigns have privately back-channeled with one another about an alternative debate… Continue reading

“Charting the Indicted Crimes in Trump’s New York Criminal Trial”

May 14, 2024, 6:42 pmcampaign financeAlleged Campaign Finance Violations, Trump indictmentTabatha Abu El-Haj

A must-read from Guha Krishnamurthi (University of Maryland, Carey School of Law). Download it while it is hot, as Larry Solum might say. In April 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced that his office was bringing… Continue reading

“Top RNC lawyer resigns after rift grows with Trump”

May 5, 2024, 7:43 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo on the campaign losing the adult in the room: The top lawyer at the Republican Party is resigning after he cited conflicts with his other work obligations and after Donald Trump grew angry about his criticism of the former… Continue reading

Trump May Have Some Good Arguments on Appeal in the Hush Money Case If Convicted, But Steven Calabresi is Likely Very Wrong That Donald Trump Would Have a Good First Amendment Defense

May 4, 2024, 6:36 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

I’ve been critical of the NY district attorney seeking to turn the Trump falsifying business records charges into felony charges in the hush money case now on trial in NY. To turn the misdemeanors into felonies, Trump had to be… Continue reading

“Trump-nominated FEC leader: let political donors hide their identities”

May 2, 2024, 7:03 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Raw Story: A Donald Trump-nominated Federal Election Commission leader wants to make it easier for political donors to hide their identities — a major impediment to post-Watergate interpretations of political transparency that allow anyone to see where politicians are getting… Continue reading

“Opinion: The many campaign finance violations divulged in Trump’s hush-money criminal trial”

May 2, 2024, 5:45 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Ciara Torres Spelliscy at Law and Crime.

May 7 CAP Online Event on Citizens United Includes Sheldon Whitehouse, Shana Broussard, Jamie Raskin, Sarah Haan and Tom Moore

April 30, 2024, 9:47 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Quite the lineup.

Top New York Election Lawyers Cannot Recall Anyone Ever Prosecuted for the NY Election Law Being Used to Try to Turn Trump’s Hush Money Payments into a Felony

April 27, 2024, 7:56 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Business Insider confirms what I suspected: Now, Manhattan prosecutors now say an old, rarely used section of the state election law is their favorite on the menu of potential underlying crimes. “As the court is aware, falsifying business records in… Continue reading

I Spoke to the PBS News Hour About Trump’s Hush Money Case Starting Monday

April 12, 2024, 3:41 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

You can watch William Brangham’s report here, also featuring Jerry Goldfeder and Jessica Roth:

“Scoop: DNC covered Biden legal bills in special counsel probe”

April 12, 2024, 6:35 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Axios: President Biden used campaign donations to help pay his legal bills last year during the special counsel’s probe into his handling of classified documents, according to two people familiar with the matter and an Axios review of campaign finance… Continue reading