Category Archives: federal election commission

“FEC scales back digital ad transparency rule after backlash”

November 29, 2022, 4:41 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Axios: Federal election regulators are scaling back a major digital ad transparency measure after an effort to speed it through the regulatory process drew intense internal and external pushback, records show. Why it matters: A little-noticed, two-word change to a… Continue reading

Proposed FEC Rulemaking on “Internet Communication Disclaimers and Definition of ‘Public Communication'”

November 11, 2022, 3:32 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

This draft is on the agenda for Thursday’s FEC meeting.

“The Republicans Who Want Election Laws to ‘Stay Broken’”

August 2, 2022, 7:24 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Daily Beast: For years, critics have argued the Federal Election Commission has been effectively broken. Now MAGA-land is going to court to make sure it stays that way.The FEC is charged with civil enforcement of campaign finance laws, but in… Continue reading

FEC Commissioner Weintraub Argues that Republican FEC Commissioners Blew It In Seeking To Dismiss Complaint Against Pro-Trump Super-Pac Involving $781 Million in Potentially Illegal Spending

July 14, 2022, 11:40 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Very interesting statement from Commissioner Weintraub about how Republican FEC commissioners—who have been trying to get rid of most serious cases of campaign finance violations on grounds of “prosecutorial discretion”—may have blown it in how they tried to apply it… Continue reading

“Senate confirms Democratic nominee to FEC”

May 26, 2022, 3:32 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Roll Call: The Senate voted 54-38 Tuesday to confirm Democratic political lawyer Dara Lindenbaum, whose clients included the gubernatorial campaign of Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, to serve on the Federal Election Commission.An election lawyer with the firm Sandler Reiff… Continue reading

FEC Deadlocks, Again

May 16, 2022, 4:14 pmcampaign finance, federal election commission2020 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

Dave Levinthal and C. Ryan Barber at Business Insider report that the Federal Election Commission has deadlocked over a “complaint that Donald Trump’s 2020 White House campaign laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in spending through corporate entities closely tied… Continue reading

“Campaign finance watchdog cracks down on untraceable super PAC donations”

April 19, 2022, 11:46 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Politico: The Federal Election Commission signaled Friday that it will take steps to uncover some types of virtually untraceable donations to super PACs, a potentially significant shift in the enforcement of campaign finance law.The move came as the FEC… Continue reading

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