Category Archives: tax law and election law

“A New Low in Campaign Finance”

October 27, 2015, 10:45 amcampaign finance, campaigns, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Today’s must-read comes from OpenSecret’s Robert Maguire, writing an oped in today’s NYT: Carolina Rising has no credible claim to being a social welfare organization. But the key thing to remember here is that Carolina Rising is not an outlier.… Continue reading

“Justice Department: No criminal charges in IRS probe”

October 23, 2015, 12:28 pmcampaign finance, chicanery, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

USA Today: Justice Department officials announced Friday that they would not seek criminal charges in a long-running inquiry into whether the IRS and former official Lois Lerner targeted conservative groups, including the Tea Party, for increased scrutiny in applications… Continue reading

“Political nonprofit spent nearly 100 percent of funds to elect Tillis in ’14”

October 20, 2015, 4:32 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Robert Maguire for the Center for Responsive Politics: A social welfare group called Carolina Rising spent 97 percent of the money it raised in the 2014 midterm elections — nearly $5 million — running ads that helped Sen. Thom Tillis… Continue reading

“Charles Koch Denies Dark Money Donations”

October 12, 2015, 4:34 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Paul Blumenthal for HuffPo: “First of all, what I give isn’t ‘dark.’ What I give politically, that’s all reported,” he said. “It’s either to PACs or to candidates. And what I give to my foundations is all public information.” This… Continue reading

“Group: IRS should probe pro-Schuette spending”

October 8, 2015, 6:52 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Detroit Free Press: A national watchdog group is calling for an investigation into a tax-exempt Michigan political organization, saying it has spent millions on TV ads featuring Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, targeting his opponents, but failing to disclose… Continue reading

George Will Goes Off the Deep End

October 8, 2015, 5:45 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

His latest WaPo column calls for the IRS director to be impeached.

“IRS Appears Headed Toward New Rules that Will Continue to License Secret Contributions in Federal Elections”

October 1, 2015, 7:39 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Fred Wertheimer: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen appears to be headed toward issuing new IRS regulations that will continue to license section 501(c)(4) groups to improperly launder massive amounts of secret contributions into federal elections. In testimony before the Senate… Continue reading

“Appeals court to hear election recall case brought by San Antonio and Houston churches”

September 2, 2015, 9:09 pmrecall elections, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

San Antonio Express-News: Are Texas churches prohibited from campaigning to recall politicians? The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will weigh that question Thursday in a case set to clarify if and how a church as a corporate entity can… Continue reading

“The Racial Equity Impact of Secret Political Spending”

September 1, 2015, 3:08 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Demos: The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FECallowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence American politics. But, the American public is kept from understanding the full impact of new corporate money in politics because… Continue reading

“Lerner slammed ‘evil and dishonest’ GOP inquisitors; Emails give a revealing look behind the scenes at the IRS leading up to the nonprofit targeting scandal”

August 14, 2015, 8:22 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Politico reports.

“Senate Report Cites I.R.S. Mismanagement in Targeting of Tea Party Groups”

August 6, 2015, 7:21 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

NYT: A Senate committee on Wednesday closed a two-year investigation with unanimous agreement that mismanagement at the Internal Revenue Service led it to improperly target conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. But a report by the panel did not suggest… Continue reading

“Two years after scandal, the IRS still struggling”

August 5, 2015, 10:57 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

WaPo: The Senate Finance Committee will release on Wednesday a bipartisan report on the 2013 scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups. Much will be made about what led to the controversy, but more than two years… Continue reading

“Judge threatens IRS chief with contempt”

July 29, 2015, 4:39 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

McClatchy: A federal judge has threatened to hold the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service in contempt of court. The threat came Wednesday from U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who has been presiding over a lawsuit by the… Continue reading