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Thanks again,

Eric

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON. The next set of political law links will be sent next year. Have a great holiday season!

ONE CLAIM DISMISSED. FEC. “The Court noted that it is immaterial that the FEC has not conducted a further investigation, as an information-injury inquiry turns on the nature of the information that would be revealed, and no further information would be uncovered by additional investigation. The Court concluded that because of this, the Plaintiffs do not have standing to bring a FECA claim, and therefore dismissed that claim.”

LEARNING ABOUT MONEY. BC. “For fresh examples of why we need to reform our political system, look no further than the past 12 months.”

FAMILY PAID. FNN. “Karen Waters received a total of about $240,000 from her 82-year-old mother’s campaign during the election cycle, Federal Election Commission records show.”

PA: COORDINATION DENIED. INQ. “No one has accused Zaborney’s firm or RSLC of wrongdoing. But good-government and campaign-finance experts said the arrangement is another example of how weak state and federal campaign-finance rules — combined with meager oversight — create gray areas and loopholes.”

TN: FACING HEARINGS. DNJ. “Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron will face audit hearings in 2021 on campaign finance violation accusations, a state board decided Monday.”

TX: MAYOR FINED. DN. “The Texas Ethics Commission cited Williams for accepting contributions from two corporations and for not reporting the names and addresses of some individual campaign donors.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

LATE HELP. TT. “A super PAC supporting the reelection of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, received a late infusion of big money ahead of the November election, including from the top super PAC aligned with Senate Republicans, according to a new post-election campaign finance filing.”

NOMINEES MOVE. RC. “The Senate Rules and Administration panel took a big step toward restoring a full slate at the Federal Election Commission, approving three nominees by voice vote Thursday.”

CA: TURLOCK ABIDES. TJ. “When the next Turlock City Council elections roll around in 2022, candidates will have to abide by the new mandatory contribution limits set by the State of California after the City Council decided not to create its own contribution limit ordinance.”

CT: OVERSIGHT QUESTIONS. CT. “For the last nine years, the State Election Enforcement Commission has failed to report the use of grant money financing candidates running for the Connecticut General Assembly, according to a recent audit report.”

OH: OPINION ON REFORM. CIN. “The policies we need addressed – whether it’s COVID-19 relief, transportation, taxes, housing, or clean water and air – get lost in the shuffle when our elected officials are more focused on chasing big political donations than they are on us.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

MONEY HELP. NPN. “Democrats have denounced anonymous money in politics for years, but 2020 brought a tidal wave of it into the election to benefit their party.”

FEC CHECK. USAT. “Trainor himself admitted he wasn’t briefed on the issue, and all of his comments contained factual inaccuracies, echoing false allegations of election fraud that have been presented with no proof.”

CA: LOBBYIST HOST ISSUE. SB. “From an ethics perspective, it’s important that Newsom says he paid for his own meal, said Bob Stern, former president of the Center for Governmental Studies who helped craft California’s political ethics laws.”

CA: NEW LIMITS. DB. “Inglewood will not follow a new state law limiting local campaign contributions to $4,700, instead opting for a cap 21 times higher than what a state senator can accept from a single source.”

PA: MORE PAC RULES. PPG. “The proposed legislation would require the same reporting rigor for independent groups of individuals funding a campaign for or against a candidate or a ballot question — such as, for example, the parks tax question that voters narrowly passed in November 2019.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

ROBODONOR WARNING. CE. “As a professional fundraiser, let me reassure you: robo-donors don’t exist. If they did, we might have been able to raise more money for our client.”

STEIN OWES. BI. “The Stein campaign is now out of money, still owing tens of thousands of dollars to the FEC for failing to disclose how it was spending donations, mandatory reports sometimes filed over a year late.”

CONTRIBUTION QUESTIONS. BI. “A leadership PAC is typically created by current and former politicians to donate money to each other and build relationships. The contributions can be used to fund candidates’ travel and events, for example.”

FEC COVERED. DB. “Campaign finance experts recoiled at Trainor’s apparent embrace of the dubious allegations.”

IL: PROBE HITS. CT. “A day after his closest political ally was indicted in a bribery and influence-buying scheme involving Commonwealth Edison, Madigan on Thursday saw eight more of his rank-and-file House members pledge not to reelect him when lawmakers reconvene in January.”

MO: AMENDMENT 3 PASSED. NL. “Amendment 3 also bans all gifts to lawmakers from paid lobbyists, though it does not prevent them from receiving gifts from unpaid lobbyists and lobbyists related to a legislator within the fourth degree, including first cousins.”

NM: SHADOW FUNDS. LCS. “Since New Mexico enacted a new disclosure law last year, more than $800,000 in political spending has been publicly reported by nonprofit groups that in the past would have remained largely hidden.”

NY: TRASH PROBE. BN. “The former chief operating officer of a Lewiston waste disposal business testified before a federal grand jury earlier this year about campaign donations to Mayor Byron W. Brown and the company’s contracts with the City of Buffalo, two sources said.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY. Have a great Thanksgiving! Posts will resume next week.

TIES CUT. FN. “Rep. Ilhan Omar is reportedly severing financial ties with her husband’s political consulting firm after previous payments totaling nearly $2.8 million ignited scrutiny and complaints to a campaign finance watchdog.”

HEARING TODAY. SRULES. The hearing for FEC nominees starts at 10 a.m.

CA: FUNDING REVEALED. FB. “Special interest groups — mainly labor unions, agricultural groups, real estate interests, oil/energy groups and health care interests — top the list for many Republican and Democratic candidates in the central San Joaquin Valley.”

CA: NEW CHIEF. OCB. “The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) today announced the appointment of Angela Brereton as Chief of Enforcement.”

VA: DOMINION ENERGY GIVES. EP. “Dominion Energy has contributed $750,500 to Virginia General Assembly members and political committees so far this year, according to campaign finance reports that its political action committee filed with the Virginia Department of Elections through September.”

WA: TRIAL STARTS. COL. “The state of Washington on Monday began its court case against Tim Eyman, alleging that over the better part of a decade, the serial initiative filer and conservative activist solicited kickbacks, laundered political donations and flouted campaign finance law in an ongoing scheme to enrich himself and deceive his political donors and the public.”

WI: RECOUNT CO$T. WEC. “Wisconsin’s county clerks have submitted cost estimates totaling approximately  $7.9 million for a statewide recount, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

TRANSITION GUIDELINES. COV. “In the alert, we answer key compliance questions regarding the Biden-Harris Transition and the Biden Inaugural Committee.”

PALAZZO PROBE. MST. “The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo’s campaign spending, after a watchdog group in March filed a complaint questioning whether he was using campaign contributions as a “’personal slush fund.'”

FUND DESTINATION. NPR. “Fischer says the language of the Trump campaign’s fundraising emails could severely mislead his supporters.”

MONEY FLOW. TVD. “The unusual way the Trump campaign is divvying up the contributions has drawn scrutiny from election watchdogs, who say Trump and his family are poised to financially benefit from the arrangement.”

FEC PACK. WHO. “Senate Republicans plan to move forward with three Federal Election Commission (FEC) nominations next week, raising concerns that the party is attempting to pack the panel with ‘partisans’ after blocking it from enforcing election laws for more than a year.”

CHAIR ON CLAIMS. NM. “‘State law allows those observers to be in there,’ he said, adding if the law isn’t being followed then this election is ‘illegitimate.'”

FORWARD ON REFORM. HILL. “The amount of money raised and spent this election cycle for president, Senate and House is obscene. Now is the time for serious and meaningful campaign finance reforms.”

CA: COMPLAINTS UP. LAT. “California’s political watchdog agency saw a big jump in the number of complaints alleging campaign law violations for the November election, even in comparison to the tumultuous 2016 presidential election year, and dozens of investigations are ongoing, officials say.”

MO: CLEARED IN CASE. STL. “Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has closed an investigation into Democratic Auditor Nicole Galloway over a GOP group’s allegations of campaign finance violations.”

SD: PITCH CONFUSION. NBC. “Federal election law makes it difficult for state campaign committees like Noem’s to donate to federal campaigns because it would have to ensure the donations it receives meet federal contribution limits.”

FRA: DECISIONS MADE. LF. “It’s a juicy story, if a bit confusing. The scandal involves a labyrinth of political operatives, secret bank accounts and—of course—two early modern Dutch paintings. It also involves the idiosyncrasies of French criminal procedure.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

POST-ELECTION HATCH ACT. FNN. “Federal employees could violate the Hatch Act in this case by, for example, forwarding emails to coworkers from a political party, wearing a T-shirt in support or opposition of a particular party or posting on social media about a political group while on duty, according to the guidance.”

LATE ADS. CNBC. “A little-known dark money group has quietly spent almost half a million dollars in the buildup to Election Day on digital ads against an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.”

NE: LACK OF LIMITS. NTV. “So for better or for worse its clear that big money has a big influence on politics here in the Cornhusker state and the experts see the amount of money being thrown into Nebraska races grow every year and they say without a new focus on limiting campaign spending Nebraska elections could stop coming down to who shows up to vote and more about who shows up to write a check.”

NC: MONEY FLOWS. JN. “And who knew that a campaign for a single seat in the Legislature could wind up costing millions?”

OR: OPEN TO LIMITS. OPB. “Limits to campaign contributions and spending should be explicitly allowed in the state’s constitution, Oregon voters decided Tuesday.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

STEIN OWES. BI. “The Stein campaign is now out of money, still owing tens of thousands of dollars to the FEC for failing to disclose how it was spending donations, mandatory reports sometimes filed over a year late.”

MONEY CHASE. NYT. “The 2020 election has blown past previous records to become the most expensive campaign in American history, with the final tally for the battle for the White House and control of the Senate and the House expected to hit nearly $14 billion, according to new projections made by the Center for Responsive Politics.”

FIRM GIVING. BI. “Lawyers at Jones Day, which provides outside counsel to President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, have donated $90,000 to Trump’s rival Joe Biden — and just $50 to Trump, according to a Reuters analysis.”

BUNDLER DISCLOSURE. VOX. “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden finally disclosed the roster of his biggest fundraisers on Saturday, unveiling the names of the 820 people who have helped him build a big-money juggernaut.”

PLOWED THROUGH. AP. “President Donald Trump’s sprawling political operation has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire.”

CA: IRVINE INVESTIGATION. VOC. “In a complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, city council candidate Mark Newgent points to a trip Khan took last year to the Republic of Azerbaijan to attend the Fifth World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, saying it violated laws governing how elected officials can accept gifts.”

CA: CAP CONSDERED. DS. “The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will hold its initial public hearing on a proposal to cap individual campaign contributions to local candidates in any election at $20,000.”

MD: SAGA NEWS. FB. “Finance reports submitted by the Nick Mosby campaign show inconsistencies in the campaign’s bank account balance, according to a review by FOX45 News.”

OH: FUNDS FOR FEES. CLE. “Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has spent nearly $950,000 from his campaign account on legal fees since his arrest in July on a federal corruption charge, according to the campaign-finance report he filed with the state on Thursday.”

TX: CORPORATE FUNDS ISSUE. TRN. “Fincannon said he acted quickly to set things right, returning $1,500 in political contributions to two local businesses Tuesday morning to avoid campaign finance violations.”

VT: FINAL REPORT. WCAX. “Friday night marks the final campaign finance report deadline for Vermont candidates before election day. Starting with the incumbent Governor Phil Scott has raised more than $95,000 since October 13th. That’s from about 300 contributors.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY AND VOTE!