Category Archives: federal election commission

“Hidden Super-PAC Contributors Win Round as Court Upholds Secrecy”

June 11, 2018, 6:07 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: A federal court upheld the Federal Election Commission’s dismissal of disclosure charges involving two wealthy contributors who allegedly funneled $14 million to super-political action committees through obscure companies. The FEC’s three Republican commissioners, who voted to dismiss the… Continue reading

Another Unfair Attack on Ann Ravel, Even Though She Left the FEC a While Ago

June 7, 2018, 8:02 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

The Washington Examiner headline does not match the story. And it’s sadly been amplified by Eric Brown, who is counsel to FEC Commissioner Hunter. Here’s the Q & A with Ann: Ann Ravel, now a lecturer at the University… Continue reading

“Federal Election Commission Can’t Decide If Russian Interference Violated Law”

May 25, 2018, 7:49 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

NPR: As tech companies and government agencies prepare to defend against possible Russian interference in the midterm elections, the Federal Election Commission has a different response: too soon. The four commissioners on Thursday deadlocked, again, on proposals to consider new… Continue reading

“FEC Democrat Pushes for Foreign Campaign Money Rules”

May 20, 2018, 1:36 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: A Democrat on the Federal Election Commission is renewing her push for FEC rules to prevent foreign campaign spending following an announcement from the Senate Intelligence Committee confirming Russian election meddling. “There is no doubt that Russia undertook… Continue reading

“A dubious anniversary for the Federal Election Commission”

April 30, 2018, 1:07 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

CPI: In separate interviews Thursday with the Center for Public Integrity, each of the four “holdover” commissioners — who may continue to serve until President Donald Trump and the U.S. Senate replace them — confirmed that they have no… Continue reading

FEC Commissioners Petersen and Hunter Attack FEC Commissioner Weintraub

April 26, 2018, 3:05 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

In footnote 2 of this document, the two Republican FEC Commissioners attack Democratic FEC Commissioner @EllenLWeintraub, calling her work encouraging CREW to sue in Court and other actions “ill-advised public statements on social media and attempts to obstruct… Continue reading

Stormy at the FEC

April 5, 2018, 1:46 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

So I made a FOIA request to the @FEC looking for correspondence mentioning "Stormy." I wasn't expecting THIS pic.twitter.com/VNNbnRkBsN — Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) April 5, 2018

“Beyond Repair: FEC Reform and Deadlock Deference”

April 4, 2018, 8:58 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Dan Tokaji has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Democracy by the People). Here is the abstract: Composed of six commissioners, three aligned with each major party, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) consistently stalemates on critical questions of campaign finance… Continue reading

“FEC Wrong to Drop Nondisclosure Case, Judge Rules”

March 21, 2018, 7:51 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: The Federal Election Commission should have pursued enforcement action against the American Action Network, a conservative nonprofit, for failing to disclose funding sources for millions of dollars in television ads supporting Republican congressional candidates, a federal judge ruled… Continue reading

“FEC Unlikely To Launch NRA-Russia Probe”

March 20, 2018, 7:13 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

TPM: News broke late last week that the Federal Election Commission had opened a preliminary inquiry into whether Russians illegally channeled money to the National Rifle Association to support Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. But the FEC’s move, which came… Continue reading

“Despite pledge to ‘drain the swamp,’ Trump has shown little interest in beefing up the Federal Election Commission”

March 14, 2018, 9:05 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

WaPo: More than a year into his presidency, President Trump has shown little interest in beefing up the Federal Election Commission, the agency that could serve as a key player in his avowed agenda to reduce the influence of moneyed… Continue reading

Breaking: FEC Commissioner Goodman Resigns, Leaving FEC with Barely a Quorum and an Uncertain Future

February 7, 2018, 8:24 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Lee Goodman, who has been a strong force for deregulating campaign finance law at the Federal Election Commission, has tendered his resignation. (You can listen to my interview with Commissioner Goodman on the ELB Podcast.) With the loss… Continue reading

Today’s Must Read: “Zombie Campaigns: The campaign is over. The candidate might be dead. But the spending never stops.”

January 31, 2018, 4:15 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicanery, federal election commissionRick Hasen

This is something from the Tampa Bay Times: IT’S BEEN MORE THAN A DECADE since South Florida Rep. Mark Foley was forced out of Congress for sending sexual text messages to teenage boys. But Foley tapped his congressional campaign fund… Continue reading

“Draft FEC Rules Target Political Ads on Social Media”

January 30, 2018, 10:06 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Bloomberg: The U.S. Federal Elections Commission is moving forward with a plan to introduce new rules on political advertising on social media ahead of the 2018 election cycle. The commission has a working draft of the rules in front of… Continue reading