Category Archives: campaign finance
“Amid troubles, Trump has huge cash advantage for 2020; But Democrats have already raised $700 million from small-dollar donors giving $200 or less”
Kate Ackley for Roll Call.
“First Amendment (Un)Exceptionalism: A Comparative Taxonomy of Campaign Finance Reform Proposals in the US and UK”
Lori Ringhand has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Ohio State L.J.). Here is the abstract:
There is an urgent conversation happening among the world’s democracies about how to respond to the combined threat of online electioneering and foreign interference… Continue reading
“Democratic Strategists Set Up $75 Million Digital Campaign to Counter Trump”
NYT:
A progressive organization is plunging itself into the presidential campaign, unveiling plans to spend $75 million on digital advertising to counter President Trump’s early spending advantage in key 2020 battleground states.The effort, by a nonprofit group called Acronym and… Continue reading
“Halloween’s Over. The FEC? Still a Zombie”
CPI:
These are dark times at the Federal Election Commission, which has now gone two months without enough commissioners to enforce federal campaign finance laws. That’s because U.S. senators and President Donald Trump have failed to strike an agreement to… Continue reading
New York: “Minor parties fear state commission trying to secure more power for major parties”
Newsday:
The panel is charged with developing a voluntary system of using state funds to help pay for political campaigns, but Cuomo and other legislative leaders also tasked the commission with looking at the merits of fusion voting. The… Continue reading
Payday Lenders Group Confirms It Is Buying Ingratiation and And Access to Trump Administration (Don’t Worry, Justice Kennedy Told Us)
WaPo:
Billing himself as one of President Trump’s top fundraisers, Michael Hodges told fellow payday lenders recently that industry contributions to the president’s reelection campaign could be leveraged to gain access to the Trump administration.“Every dollar amount, no matter… Continue reading
“CREW Exposes Dark Money Donors including Thiel, DeVos and Adelson”
CREW:
Following a historic victory against dark money by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Americans for Job Security (AJS) has released its donors from 2010 through 2012, including major contributions from Peter Thiel, Richard and Helen DeVos,… Continue reading
“Biden appears to drop his opposition to a super PAC”
WaPo:
Joe Biden is apparently dropping his long-held opposition to the creation of an outside group that would supply an infusion of money to benefit his campaign, a recognition that financial struggles are becoming a major problem for his presidential… Continue reading
“Corporate Political Transparency: It’s Optional”
Dave Levinthal for CPI:
Basking in the sunny side of the corporate political disclosure spectrum are household names such as AT&T, HP Inc., Capital One Financial Corp., General Electric Co. and Google parent Alphabet Inc.Comparatively slinking through the shadows? Netflix… Continue reading
Shah Zuberi, Los Angeles Financier Who Donated $900K to Trump Inaugural, Pleads Guilty to “making almost $1 million in illegal campaign contributions that included funneling money from foreign entities and individuals to influence U.S. elections.”
Daily Beast:
A Los Angeles financier who donated $900,000 to President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee has admitted to falsifying records to hide his work as a foreign agent while he lobbied prominent U.S. government officials, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.Shah Zuberi,… Continue reading
“Campaign Finance Law Should Do More To Prevent Donor Harassment”
Brad Smith oped in the Daily Caller. Although Brad correctly quotes me as saying that I support raising the donor thresholds, it is not because I believe there is a serious increase in unconstitutional harassment (I don’t). It is… Continue reading
“Congress has long sought to bar foreign campaign contributions”
Todd Ruger for Roll Call.
“The Pro-Trump Super PAC at the Center of the Ukraine Scandal Has Faced Multiple Campaign Finance Complaints”
ProPublica:
Last year, a Department of Defense contractor quietly donated half a million dollars to a group supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection.Once a watchdog organization noticed it, the contribution raised an alarm. Federal contractors are not allowed to donate to… Continue reading