Category Archives: campaign finance

“Courting Risk: Corporate Underwrites & State Attorneys General”

June 3, 2024, 6:39 amcampaign finance, political polarizationRick Hasen

New report from CPA. From the foreword by Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson: Political spending to support controversial policies and leaders thrives in darkness. And no spending has defied necessary scrutiny more than the bigger and bigger donations that public… Continue reading

“Likely Trump Hush Money Appeal Could Center on New York Election Law Theory”

May 31, 2024, 8:03 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

National Law Journal: Erica Hashimoto, who directs the Georgetown Law Appellate Litigation Program, said Trump’s appellate lawyers could challenge the three “unlawful means” that the jury was told to consider. These three are violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act,… Continue reading

“Trump’s Campaign Donor Website Crashes After Guilty Verdict”

May 31, 2024, 7:03 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: WinRed, the payment processor for Republican campaign donations, crashed after former President Donald J. Trump’s felony conviction, a technical issue that his campaign attributed to the number of people trying to donate in the immediate aftermath of the verdict.… Continue reading

“Trump makes sweeping promises to donors on audacious fundraising tour”

May 28, 2024, 6:57 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

WaPo: Trump sometimes makes requests higher than his team expects to receive, sometimes surprising his own advisers because he is asking for so much money. By frequently tying the fundraising requests within seconds of promises of tax cuts, oil project… Continue reading

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy Speaks to Eric Segall Podcast About Her Upcoming Book, Corporatocracy

May 23, 2024, 10:29 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

You can watch here.

With Both Sides Resting in Trump Hush Money Trial, Whether Donald Trump Committed Felonies is Uncertain, Likely Depending on the Jury Instructions and How Appeals Courts Will Interpret the Law

May 21, 2024, 7:55 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Both sides have now rested in the Donald Trump hush money trial in New York. The parties will fight over jury instructions and then there will be closing arguments beginning right after Memorial Day, on May 28. Having expressed some… Continue reading

“Trump’s Reported Fund-Raising Tops Biden’s for First Time”

May 21, 2024, 7:27 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party out-raised President Biden and the Democrats last month for the first time in this election cycle, according to campaign officials, as Mr. Biden’s pace of fund-raising slowed significantly from March.… Continue reading

“Montana’s attorney general said he recruited token primary opponent to increase campaign fundraising”

May 20, 2024, 7:54 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

AP: Montana’s attorney general told supporters he skirted the state’s campaign finance laws by inviting another Republican to run against him as a token candidate in next month’s primary so he could raise more money for the November general election,… Continue reading

“2 Liberal Groups to Spend $5 Million on State Supreme Court Races”

May 20, 2024, 7:33 amcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

NYT: Two groups on the left with differing missions are joining forces to bolster their preferred candidates in state supreme court races in November, as such elections grow increasingly expensive and politically polarizing. The two organizations — the National Democratic… Continue reading

“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