Category Archives: campaign finance

“William Barr’s donations to Senate Republicans spiked just before they confirmed him as attorney general”

July 18, 2019, 11:19 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

Interesting. And according to the story, unusual: Neither Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, nor Eric Holder—the three prior attorneys general—made payments to either party committees or senators ahead of confirmation hearings and votes. Holder gave $250 to the Democratic Senatorial… Continue reading

“Court documents show close contact between Cohen and Trump during hush-money arrangements”

July 18, 2019, 11:17 amcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

Unsealed copies of the Cohen search warrant materials were released today based on the close of the campaign finance investigation. Here’s the cover letter. Zoe Tillman’s got links to the docs. Phone records in the documents show Cohen… Continue reading

“Feds end investigation into Trump Org and hush money payments”

July 17, 2019, 5:17 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

CNN, The Hill, NYT, WSJ have reports. Looks like the leaks were accurate after all.

“Diversifying the Donor Pool: How Did Seattle’s Democracy Vouchers Program Reshape Participation in Municipal Campaign Finance?”

July 16, 2019, 10:46 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

A new paper about Seattle’s campaign finance voucher program, from Brian McCabe and Jennifer Heerwig. I’m looking forward to reading this one. The abstract: In this paper, we evaluate whether an innovative new campaign finance program in Seattle, Washington shifted… Continue reading

“GOP megadonors pour money into Trump campaign”

July 16, 2019, 10:45 amcampaign finance, political partiesJustin Levitt

The Trump takeover of the GOP is reflected in the recent campaign finance disclosures. The subhead of the piece: “Some of the same donors who bankrolled anti-Trump efforts in 2016 are at the center of the president’s reelection.”

“Voters to decide on increased campaign finance disclosures, new limits on contributions”

July 16, 2019, 10:41 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

San Francisco puts a measure on the November ballot aimed at disclosing the top funders of committees, rather than just the committee name itself.

New volume of the Harvard Law & Policy Review is out

July 15, 2019, 11:00 amcampaign finance, ethics investigations, political equality, political parties, redistricting, Supreme CourtJustin Levitt

Chock full of election-law goodies. Among other pieces: Elizabeth Warren, Foreword (on corruption and faith in government)Jeffrey Clements, “But It Will Happen”: A Constitutional Amendment to Secure Political Equality in Election Spending and RepresentationViki Harrison,… Continue reading

Last week at the FEC

July 15, 2019, 10:57 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionJustin Levitt

Here’s last week’s roundup of the latest at the FEC. Includes, among other things, an advisory opinion allowing a vendor to offer cybersecurity services to campaigns at low- to no-cost, and an advisory opinion allowing a congressional campaign to distribute… Continue reading

Zombie campaigns

July 15, 2019, 10:56 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

A nice summary here of some of the various reasons why campaign accounts may stay open long after the campaigners are out of office.

“Thinking small: Why Bernie Sanders and other 2020 candidates seek low-dollar campaign contributions”

July 15, 2019, 10:56 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

And a nice summary here of some of the various reasons for seeking grassroots contributions.

“For Democratic presidential hopeful Steve Bullock, it’s all about the ‘dark money’”

July 14, 2019, 11:05 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

Spotlight on Bullock’s spotlight on campaign finance and the Copper Kings.

“Taking political financing private may be legal, but looks wrong for Gillum”

July 14, 2019, 11:05 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

One Floridian commentator’s take on the flow of funds between PACs and c4s. FWIW, I’m not sure the particular objection highlighted here makes much sense. It protests the funding of a c4 from donations collected for a PAC, on the… Continue reading

“California lawmakers consider new rules for political ads”

July 14, 2019, 11:04 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

The AP reports on new proposals for disclaimers on Facebook ads about pending legislation.

“Prosecutors unlikely to charge Trump Org executives, sources say”

July 13, 2019, 12:05 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

Reports from CNN and The Hill on potential campaign-finance charges against executives in the Trump Organization. FWIW, I fully believe that the sources are being accurately quoted, but I’m always pretty skeptical about underlying representations of whether prosecutions are or… Continue reading