Category Archives: federal election commission

DNC Settles Suit Over Payment for Research in “Steele Dossier”; One ELB Reader Wonders About DNC Tactics

March 31, 2022, 7:42 amcampaign finance, chicanery, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Politico: The Federal Election Commission has agreed to a fine of over $100,000 against the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign over an investigation into alleged misreporting of spending related to the now-infamous Steele dossier.The FEC… Continue reading

“Donald Trump Is Now Miraculously 43-0 Against ‘Partisan’ FEC”

March 2, 2022, 7:29 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Roger Sollenberger for the Daily Beast: Donald Trump may have been impeached twice, and he’s taken some lumps in court, but in one legal arena he is hands-down the undefeated reigning champ: campaign finance law.It’s not even close.According to… Continue reading

“Scoop: Biden taps new election money regulator”

January 21, 2022, 12:10 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Axios: President Biden plans to nominate election law attorney Dara Lindenbaum to the Federal Election Commission, Axios has learned.Why it matters: The nomination gives Biden an opportunity to try to shape some U.S. election rules in the wake of… Continue reading

Federal District Court, Reconsidering Earlier Order, Dismisses Complaint that FEC Failed to Go After Jeb Bush for Illegally Coordinating with His Super PAC

December 31, 2021, 12:00 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

The court has held that the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 did not have standing to bring the complaint. The court’s earlier opinion explained the stakes: While Jeb Bush’s unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign may seem like a footnote in… Continue reading

Unredacted Opinion in Giffords v. FEC Shows Reasons for Long Delay in Consideration of Campaign Finance Complaints Against NRA

December 29, 2021, 8:52 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Opinion here. After Republican commissioners delayed consideration of the matter, FEC Commissioner Petersen recused himself once he accepted a post-FEC job at Holtzman Vogel, depriving the FEC of a quorum.

“Ted Cruz has never recouped more than $500,000 he loaned his first campaign. He’s working to overturn the law that’s blocked him.”

December 14, 2021, 1:03 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: Locked in an expensive Republican primary for U.S. senator against a wealthy, better-known opponent, Ted Cruz loaned his campaign over $1 million in 2012.The cash helped him defeat Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a runoff that… Continue reading

“Money, denials and stalling: How Trump, the Mercers and the GOP beat the FEC”

November 12, 2021, 3:33 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

CNBC: The Federal Election Commission in August started to move ahead with halting its investigation into the now defunct data harvesting company Cambridge Analytica, the firm that worked for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign for… Continue reading

Chart of the Day

November 10, 2021, 10:17 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Dramatic rise in campaign spending in federal elections, per a new FEC Inspector General report.

“GOP unity on FEC shattered, future uncertain”

October 14, 2021, 9:55 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Washington Examiner: Long-standing Republican unity on the Federal Election Commission, especially against liberal efforts to expand rules to punish GOP candidates, appears to be in jeopardy with the arrival of a new member who has stirred controversy by… Continue reading

“Pro-Trump PAC fined over foreign money offer”

October 13, 2021, 6:53 amcampaign finance, chicanery, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Lachlan Markay for Axios: A pro-Trump political group has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle allegations it illegally solicited $2 million from reporters posing as intermediaries for a Chinese national.Why it matters: A key player in the scheme, a veteran… Continue reading

Republican FEC Commissioners: Twitter Entitled to Press Exemption for Excluding NY Post Content on Hunter Biden

September 15, 2021, 11:37 amcampaign finance, cheap speech, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Dickerson/Trainor statement: Moreover, the decision as to precisely which news to distribute is, in many ways, the sine qua non of “the business of producing…news stories, commentary,and/or editorials.”27 The New York Times famously emblazons its masthead with the… Continue reading

“The F.E.C. dismisses claims that Twitter illegally blocked a Hunter Biden article.”

September 13, 2021, 9:38 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Shane Goldmacher for the NYT: The Federal Election Commission has dismissed Republican accusations that Twitter violated election laws in October by blocking people from posting links to an unsubstantiated New York Post article about Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son Hunter… Continue reading

IFS Files Amicus Briefs Attacking FEC Democratic Commissioners’ Refusal to Close Case Files or Vote to Defend FEC in Court for Inaction

August 18, 2021, 6:56 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

See here. For background, read this NYT article.

Election Law Scholars’ Amicus Brief Urging En Banc in CREW v. FEC on FEC Misuse of “Prosecutorial Discretion” to Avoid Deciding Cases

June 30, 2021, 12:34 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

This amicus brief on a very important issue is written on behalf of Richard Briffault, Michael S. Kang, Jennifer Nou, Bertrall Ross, Douglas Spencer, Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, and Abby K. Wood.