Category Archives: campaign finance

“5 years after Ohio’s $60M bribery scandal, critics say more could be done to prevent a repeat”

July 22, 2025, 4:22 ambribery, campaign financeDan Tokaji

AP: Five years after a $60 million bribery scheme funded by FirstEnergy Corp. came to light in Ohio, expert observers say the resulting prosecutions, lawsuits, penalties and legislation haven’t led to enough change and accountability to prevent politicians and… Continue reading

“How an alleged Georgia Ponzi scheme fueled far-right causes”

July 21, 2025, 5:00 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

AJC: The Frost family used nearly $1.4 million in campaign contributions, much of it allegedly swindled from investors, to build political clout in Georgia and across the nation over the past two decades, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis shows. A… Continue reading

“Crypto Industry Reaches Milestone With Passage of First Major Bill”

July 18, 2025, 5:12 amcampaign finance, legislation and legislatures, lobbyingDan Tokaji

NYT: “The big bipartisan votes on the legislation reflected the industry’s success in cultivating powerful allies in government. Crypto firms financed a network of super PACs that spent more than $130 million backing pro-crypto candidates in the 2024 election.”

Kang, “Party Campaign Finance from FECA to Modern Hyperpartisanship”

July 17, 2025, 11:52 amcampaign finance, political parties, political polarizationDan Tokaji

Michael Kang’s latest, forthcoming in Fifty Years of Buckley v. Valeo (Lee Bollinger & Geoffrey Stone eds., 2025). The abstract: Political parties grew from seeming irrelevance in campaign finance at the time of the Federal Election Campaign Act amendments… Continue reading

“Over 1 in 5 high-level Trump picks held crypto, Post analysis finds”

July 17, 2025, 4:57 amcampaign finance, conflict of interest lawsDan Tokaji

Washington Post: Nearly 70 Trump administration officials and nominees held cryptocurrency or investments in blockchain or digital-asset companies at the time of their selection, with stakes ranging from small to more than $120 million…. [T]he appointment of multiple officials… Continue reading

“Federal judge blocks Maine’s voter-approved law capping donations to super PACs”

July 16, 2025, 4:34 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Maine Public reports: The ballot initiative approved by Maine voters last year would set a $5,000 annual limit on donations to political action committees that make “independent expenditures” on candidate campaigns. Supporters argue that the cap is needed to… Continue reading

Issue One, “Crypto Craziness”

July 16, 2025, 4:29 amcampaign finance, lobbyingDan Tokaji

Issue One has this report, finding “12 times during Trump’s second term that Trump and his administration have generally made life easier for the controversial industry that has invested heavily in the political influence game.“

“Crypto industry amasses colossal war chest for elections”

July 15, 2025, 5:15 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Politico: “A super PAC group funded by cryptocurrency companies will enter the upcoming midterm elections with more than $140 million in the bank, according to new fundraising data shared first with POLITICO — a mammoth sum that now looms… Continue reading

“Jan. 6 Rioters Are the New Hot Event in Town for Republicans”

July 14, 2025, 5:41 amcampaign finance, election subversion risk, political partiesDan Tokaji

Where campaign finance meets election subversion. WSJ reports: Former Jan. 6 defendants are the new draw at local Republican fundraisers, helping to fill seats at normally sleepy events while getting a platform to tell their version of the Capitol… Continue reading

“Leader of pro-Eric Adams super PAC banking on crypto cash”

July 14, 2025, 5:18 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Politico, with a story that probably will not surprise people who follow money in politics: A leader of the super PAC supporting New York City Mayor Eric Adams hopes to raise upwards of $10 million from the cryptocurrency community… Continue reading

Lloyd Mayer on the Johnson Amendment

July 12, 2025, 4:41 amcampaign finance, campaigns, ethics investigations, tax law and election lawGuy Charles

The always insightful tax and election law scholar Lloyd Mayer on the Johnson Amendment here. From the post: Churches and other houses of worship can endorse political candidates without risking the loss of their tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue… Continue reading

Preliminary Injunction Against Maine Foreign Influence Initiative Upheld By First Circuit

July 11, 2025, 5:43 pmcampaign finance, court decisions, First Amendment theory, political equality, referendumGuy Charles

A panel of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a district court’s preliminary injunction against a Maine ballot initiative that prohibited “foreign governments and ‘foreign government-influenced entit[ies] from contributing or otherwise influencing candidate elections and ballot initiatives.”… Continue reading

Major Supreme Court Campaign Finance Case, NRSC, Likely to Be Heard By Supreme Court at Its December Sitting

July 9, 2025, 7:23 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

See this letter from the court-appointed amicus.

Trump Administration Wants to Enter into a Consent Decree that Would Allow Churches and Other Religious Organizations to Get More Directly Involved in Electoral Politics Despite the “Johnson Amendment”

July 7, 2025, 3:31 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

In the lawsuit raising constitutional objections to limits on religious nonprofits being involved in endorsing candidates and doing other election related activities, a proposed joint consent decree, in which plaintiffs and the federal government would agree to what would… Continue reading