Category Archives: federal election commission

“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.

“F.E.C. Dismisses Case Against Democrats Over Outreach to Ukraine”

June 16, 2021, 4:51 pmfederal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint by an ally of President Donald J. Trump accusing the Democratic Party and one of its former consultants of violating campaign finance laws by working with Ukraine to help Hillary Clinton’s… Continue reading

“Democrats’ Improbable New F.E.C. Strategy: More Deadlock Than Ever”

June 8, 2021, 7:00 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: For more than a decade, Democrats seeking more robust enforcement of election laws and transparency measures have been routinely routed at the F.E.C., the nation’s top campaign watchdog agency. They have complained bitterly that Republicans have weaponized the commission’s… Continue reading

“Opinion: Close this FEC loophole that killed the case over Trump’s payment to Stormy Daniels”

May 10, 2021, 6:46 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub’s WaPo oped: But when the FEC’s professional legal staff recommended the commission investigate, two Republican commissioners instead tanked the case without a word about its merits. Since Cohen had already been prosecuted, they said,… Continue reading

“F.E.C. Drops Case Reviewing Trump Hush-Money Payments to Women”

May 7, 2021, 6:43 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: The Federal Election Commission said on Thursday that it had formally dropped a case looking into whether former President Donald J. Trump violated election law with a payment of $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election to a pornographic-film actress… Continue reading

“F.E.C. Asks Congress to Ban Prechecked Recurring Donation Boxes”

May 6, 2021, 10:29 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: The Federal Election Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to recommend that Congress ban political campaigns from guiding donors by default into recurring contributions through prechecked boxes, a month after a New York Times investigation showed that former President Donald… Continue reading

FEC Republican Commissioners Pave Way for More Foreign Corporate Influence in U.S. Campaigns

May 4, 2021, 7:04 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Free Speech for People: The Federal Election Commission divided 3-3 on Free Speech For People’s 2017 complaint against the oil company Citgo, its Venezuelan state-owned parent company, and President Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee. The FEC’s general counsel agreed with Free… Continue reading

“Democrats Aim to Revive a Campaign Finance Watchdog”

April 19, 2021, 7:39 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: Yet as the Senate prepares to begin work on a sweeping voting rights and elections overhaul bill, the two parties are bitterly divided over a proposal to restructure the enforcer of campaign finance rules, a central plank of the… Continue reading