A Donald Trump-nominated Federal Election Commission leader wants to make it easier for political donors to hide their identities — a major impediment to post-Watergate interpretations of political transparency that allow anyone to see where politicians are getting their money.
The proposed directive, titled “Requests to Withhold, Redact, or Modify Identifying Information,” was submitted today by Commissioner Allen J. Dickerson for possible consideration at the commission’s public May 16 meeting. Raw Story obtained a copy.
Dickerson’s memorandum says that the Federal Election Campaign Act’s disclosure requirements “are not absolute” and subject to exceptions.
“Where a person or group can show ‘a reasonable probability’ that compelled disclosure ‘will subject them to threats, harassment, or reprisals from either Government officials or private parties,’ they must be excused from disclosing the information that will put them at risk,“ Dickerson’s memorandum says.
Category Archives: federal election commission
FEC Commissioner Trey Trainor Has a Ted Cruz Campaign Sign on His Front Lawn at His Texas Home
This, as the FEC reviews a complaint against Cruz.
“Republicans Are Making ‘Dark Money’ Even Darker for 2024”
Roger Sollenberger for The Daily Beast:
For years, dark money groups have enjoyed certain advantages that offer donors anonymity—putting the proverbial “dark” in “dark money.”
But late last month, one small outside group quietly told election law regulators to shove off when watchdogs demanded to see the group’s donors, a move that legal experts say could signal a profound shift in campaign finance disclosure laws, making dark money even darker just in time for the 2024 election.
The group, a left-leaning climate change advocacy organization called “Protect Our Winters Action Fund,” was standing its ground after a notice from the Federal Election Commission flagged the group’s failure to disclose contributors, as the law requires.
In response, POWAF—a 501(c)(4) nonprofit—simply declined to disclose its donors. And as a justification, the group cited a policy statement from the FEC’s three Republican commissioners released in June 2022, signaling they would not enforce “dark money” disclosure rules as courts had previously decided.
That policy statement does not carry the force of law. And legal experts told The Daily Beast that the commissioners’ memo—written in response to two federal court rulings that had interpreted the law the opposite way—undercuts judicial decisions favoring transparency.
Instead, these experts said, GOP commissioners are apparently signaling they will unilaterally refuse to enforce the law as courts have defined it. With all FEC enforcement decisions requiring support from four of the six commissioners, this three-commissioner Republican contingent could block any action.
While the mechanisms involved may seem highly technical and obscure, the potential consequences are broad and easy to understand.
Republican FEC Commissioners Block Investigation into Trump Campaign for 59th Time (29th Rejecting Staff Recommendations)
Commissioners will continue to exercise prosecutorial discretion – the judicially unreviewable superpower granted to them by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals –unless and until the Court reconsiders its rulings in the Commission on Hope, Growth & Opportunity and New Models cases.
Until then, commissioners will be free to determine that Commission resources “would be best spent elsewhere” – although with only seven cases currently under investigation and the enforcement division’s investigatory authority newly hamstrung,16 it’s not clear where. And for those keeping count, the tally is now 59 times the Commission has been presented with allegations that Mr. Trump or his committees violated the FECA, 29 times the Commission’s nonpartisan professional staff recommended that we take some steps to enforce the law, and (checks notes) still zero times a Republican commissioner has voted to approve any recommendation to enforce the law against Mr. Trump
“The FEC, Still Failing to Enforce Campaign Laws, Heads to Capitol Hill”
The latest from the Brennan Center:
Ultimately, any system of rules is only as good as the body that enforces them. Most Americans want strong campaign finance rules, which require an FEC committed to enforcing duly enacted laws in a timely and evenhanded manner. Congress should use the opportunity presented by this oversight hearing to press the FEC to fulfill its statutory mission. And lawmakers should continue to pursue legislative solutions to make the commission work better.
“A Trump Appointee is Trying to Gut the FEC’s Ability to Investigate Campaign Finance Crimes”
The government agency tasked with investigating campaign finance violations is on its way to intentionally making that very obligation more difficult to accomplish.
The Federal Election Commission is a notoriously deadlocked agency that has nonetheless taken some significant enforcement actions in recent years. In 2019, for instance, the FEC issued record fines in relation to a Jeb Bush super PAC’s acceptance of $1.3 million from a Chinese-owned corporation. Last year, the agency fined Marathon Petroleum Company for giving $1 million to Republican party campaign committees while the fossil fuel company had existing contracts with the federal government.
Now FEC Commissioner Allen Dickerson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, is pushing a rules change that would encumber the agency’s ability to investigate such violations. The proposal would require the FEC’s Office of General Counsel to get explicit approval from the commissioners for any investigative activity, no matter how big or small.
Republican Federal Election Commission Commissioner Wants to Hobble the FEC Even More Than It Already Is
Federal Election Commissioner Trey Trainor Refused to Cooperate with Inspector General Investigating Allegations of Improper Conduct Where Trainor Appeared at Event Misidentified as Member of “Trump Elections Team”
And because of the lack of cooperation the IG could not really tell if Trainor broke any rules.
The Federal Role in U.S. Elections, in One Picture
Bipartisan Policy Center has this explainer, which “identifies the primary entities from each branch of the federal government with a role in elections and their overlap and inter-agency collaboration to equip election stakeholders to better use existing resources and advocate for needed improvements.”
Federal Lawsuit against DeSantis and Florida Election Officials over Rollout of Felon Voting Rights Restoration
Tampa Bay Times reports: “Nearly five years after Floridians voted to allow people with felony convictions to restore their voting rights, the coalition that pushed for the change is suing the state, arguing Florida created a system that impedes the will of the voters.” You can find the complaint on behalf of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and four individuals here, and more coverage in WaPo and Axios.
FEC Unanimously Voted (Back in July 2022, But Just Now Made Public) that Schwarzenegger and His USC Institute Did Not Violate Federal Campaign Finance Law in Giving Election Administration Grants During Covid
Sensible result (vote totals). Not clear why this took so long to make public.
The claim was that these grants were meant to help Biden win, but there was no evidence of that. (Similar claims have been made about money from the Zuckerberg-Chan Foundation, also without evidence, and it has led many red states to ban private funding to help with election administration.)
DC Circuit affirms dismissal of challenge to FEC’s decision to accept paperwork for Trump’s presidential candidacy
Late last year, I highlighted a federal court’s decision to throw out a challenge to the FEC accepting paperwork for Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy on the ground that he was ineligible to serve. Last month, in an unpublished per curiam opinion, a panel of the the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed dismissal: “appellant has not shown that he has Article III standing to pursue Count Two of his complaint. See generally Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540, 1547 (2016).” As I wrote last year, challenges to Trump’s candidacy won’t take place through FEC candidacy lawsuits, and we’re slowly seeing that play out in the courts now.
DC Circuit rejects Heritage Action’s effort to intervene in Campaign Legal Center suit against FEC
You can see the DC Circuit’s unanimous opinion in Campaign Legal Center v. Federal Election Commission, here. The introduction of the opinion:
Heritage Action for America appeals the denial of its post-judgment motion to intervene as of right, FED. R. CIV. P. 24(a), in Campaign Legal Center’s challenge to the Federal Election Commission’s failure to act on its administrative complaint. The district court found the motion was untimely because prior to judgment it became clear Heritage Action’s interests would not be protected and delay in considering the complaint would prejudice Campaign Legal to the detriment of Congress’ enforcement scheme. Heritage Action had not yet received the Commission’s response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed 41 months after the administrative complaint, but the record supports the district court’s findings upon applying the test in Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, 142 S. Ct. 1002, 1012 (2022). Accordingly, the court affirms the denial of intervention and dismisses the merits appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
Federal Court Rejects Argument by Pro-DeSantis Super PAC That It Can Give Its Contact List to DeSantis for Free without Violating Contribution Limits
This decision seems a sound and straightforward result. But of course the FEC could not agree.