Category Archives: campaign finance

“The Dark Money Subsidy? Tax Policy and Donations to 501(c)(4) Organizations”

December 4, 2017, 10:54 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Brian Galle has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article presents the first empirical examination of giving to § 501(c)(4) organizations, which have recently become central players in U.S. politics. Although donations to a 501(c)(4) are… Continue reading

Toobin Skeptical of Criminal Campaign Finance Charges Against Trump Campaign (But More Bullish on Obstruction Claims)

December 2, 2017, 12:31 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

New Yorker’s Jeff Toobin: Does any of this behavior rise to the level of criminality, and, if so, what laws might it have violated? Federal law prohibits political candidates and their advisers from seeking or obtaining contributions from foreign… Continue reading

“Internet Ad Rules Bring Together Strange Bedfellows”

December 1, 2017, 7:47 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Eliza Newlin Carney for TAP.

Unanimous En Banc DC Circuit Rejects Challenge to Separate Federal Campaign Contribution Limits in Primary and General Election Campaigns

November 28, 2017, 8:23 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

This one always struck me as a weird challenge, and today, per Judge Srinivasan, the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, unanimously rejected the argument: Congress’s choice of a per-election structure thus is not a “prophylaxis-upon-prophylaxis”—a second anti-corruption measure layered… Continue reading

“Amending the Johnson Amendment in the Age of Cheap Speech”

November 27, 2017, 8:01 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Ellen Aprill has posted this important draft on SSRN (forthcoming University of Illinois Law Review On-Line). Here is the abstract: On November 2, 2017, the House Ways and Means Committee released its proposed tax reform legislation. It includes a provision… Continue reading

“Blowing Up Democracy and Charities in One Fell Swoop”

November 27, 2017, 7:06 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Eliza Newlin Carney: By essentially repealing the so-called Johnson Amendment, a tax provision that bars charities from engaging in partisan politics, the House legislation frees up big donors to funnel even more unlimited, undisclosed money into campaigns, and, for the… Continue reading

“In Tax Debate, Gift to Religious Right Could Be Bargaining Chip”

November 26, 2017, 6:32 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

NYT: Among the changes in the tax bill that passed the House this month is a provision to roll back the 1954 ban, a move that is championed by the religious right, but opposed by thousands of religious and nonprofit… Continue reading

“Republicans Are Candid About the True Price of the Tax Bill”

November 26, 2017, 3:26 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy: Republican contributors were not amused by the Senate’s lack of accomplishment and withheld money for the 2018 campaign. Donations to Senate Republicans went from $7 million in March to only $2 million in July and August, “a… Continue reading

“Don’t Let Candidates Know Their Donors”

November 22, 2017, 7:34 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Jerry Goldfeder with an NYT letter to the editor.

“How did the DNC fall into a fundraising hole so deep as to need a life-line from the Clinton campaign to begin with?”

November 21, 2017, 8:11 pmcampaign finance, political partiesRick Hasen

Dan Weiner on Donna Brazile and the DNC.

Much Russian Activity Meddling in 2016 Elections Likely Didn’t Violate Federal Law, Wouldn’t Be Covered by Proposed “Honest Ads Act,” and May Be Beyond (Conservative Justices’ Views of) Constitution to Limit

November 20, 2017, 7:20 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

I’ve already hinted at some of these things in this Politico piece, but I’ve now fleshed it out in the latest draft of my forthcoming First Amendment Law Review article, Cheap Speech and What It Has Done (to American Democracy… Continue reading

“Bipartisan Harvard panel recommends hacking safeguards for elections”

November 20, 2017, 6:59 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Reuters: A bipartisan Harvard University project aimed at protecting elections from hacking and propaganda will release its first set of recommendations today on how U.S. elections can be defended from hacking attacks. The 27-page guidebook shown to Reuters ahead of… Continue reading

“The Trump-Russia-WikiLeaks Alliance and Campaign Finance Laws”

November 20, 2017, 6:56 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Bob Bauer for Just Security: The WikiLeaks-Trump Jr. correspondence has passed through this round of commentary. I thought that these Twitter exchanges unquestionably deepened the campaign’s legal exposure to liability for aiding illicit foreign national activity in U.S. elections. It… Continue reading

“Election officials move closer to placing new rules on Facebook and Google”

November 16, 2017, 9:59 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Washington Post: The Federal Election Commission moved a step closer to placing tighter regulations on Internet ads published on major Web platforms, marking a significant shift for an agency beset by partisan dysfunction and another sign that regulators are seeking… Continue reading