Category Archives: tax law and election law

“Donald Trump, Pam Bondi and $25K: Was it pay to play?”

September 21, 2016, 8:01 pmcampaigns, chicanery, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Politifact Florida: With some of the facts of the case unknown, Clinton’s ad makes claims that cannot be proven. For that reason, we decided to not put this statement on our Truth-O-Meter. Still, with all the news stories re-circulating about… Continue reading

“Leaked Documents Show Court’s Dismissal of the John Doe Investigation Was Based on a False Premise”

September 21, 2016, 12:52 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

CMD release.

“FEC Faulted for Failure to Enforce Disclosure on Nonprofits”

September 20, 2016, 9:17 pmcampaign finance, federal election commission, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Ken Doyle for Bloomberg BNA.

“In major shift, Koch consolidates network of advocacy groups into Americans for Prosperity”

September 17, 2016, 12:32 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Matea Gold for WaPo: Billionaire Charles Koch is consolidating the array of conservative advocacy groups financed by his donor network, merging all the organizations into the main political arm, Americans for Prosperity, officials announced Friday. Network leaders cast the surprising… Continue reading

“Trump pays IRS a penalty for his foundation violating rules with gift to aid Florida attorney general”

September 1, 2016, 7:29 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“Judge: Citizens United must disclose donor information to NY”

August 29, 2016, 9:09 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

AP: A nonprofit conservative organization advocating for less government must reveal information about major donors to the state’s attorney general if it wants to solicit money in the state, a judge ruled Monday as he rejected First Amendment claims. U.S.… Continue reading

“Yes, Citizens United and Other Court Rulings Led to a Rise in Dark Money”

August 29, 2016, 7:28 amcampaign finance, Supreme Court, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Paul Blumenthal for HuffPo. I’d place much more blame on Congress, the FEC, and the IRS for the lack of disclosure, which the Supreme Court fully endorsed in Citizens United and other court rulings.

“New Sanders Group Illustrates Legal Compliance Challenges”

August 26, 2016, 12:46 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Eric Wang for Roll Call.

“WMP/CRP Special Report Outside Group Activity, 2000-2016”

August 24, 2016, 12:48 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

New report highlights: There has been a vast increase in the volume of advertising sponsored by outside groups between 2000 and 2016. The share of ads sponsored by outside groups between 2000 and 2016 has increased dramatically. Whereas 527 organizations… Continue reading

“Dark money group seeks investigation of Kansas Supreme Court justice”

August 23, 2016, 8:47 pmcampaign finance, judicial elections, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Bryan Lowry for the Wichita Eagle: A national dark money group has revived a 2-year-old controversy involving a Kansas Supreme Court justice and filed an ethics complaint with the state’s Commission on Judicial Qualifications. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic… Continue reading

“Charles Koch’s network launches new fight to keep donors secret”

August 17, 2016, 7:32 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Fredreka Schouten for USA Today: A group tied to billionaire Charles Koch has unleashed an aggressive campaign to kill a ballot measure in South Dakota that would require Koch-affiliated groups and others like them to reveal their donors’ identities — … Continue reading

“New search tool traces sources of ‘dark money’”

August 3, 2016, 7:35 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

CPI: “Dark money” just got a bit of light shined on it, thanks to a new search tool unveiled today by the Center for Public Integrity. The Center downloaded 850,000 forms from about 250,000 nonprofits that were recently released… Continue reading

“Utah settles lawsuit, concedes First Amendment violation”

July 14, 2016, 8:14 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

CCP: In an agreement approved by a federal judge this afternoon, Utah agreed not to enforce a state campaign finance law that violated the First Amendment. The complex law required nonprofit advocacy groups to register with the state and publicly… Continue reading