$70 MILLION. Politico. “The Obama campaign announced in an email this morning that the president’s reelection effort and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $70 million in the third quarter of the year[.]”
ADS IN THE NEWS. The Post. “American Crossroads, the largest of a new generation of political interest groups, is seeking to use a loophole in campaign laws to do something that has occupied a gray area of election law: produce advertisements featuring federal candidates and officeholders.” The Times also covers the story about ads run by a state party. “Even though the ads were underwritten by Democratic organizations, in this instance the parties are considered to be operating as independent organizations engaged in issue advocacy rather than promoting the candidate himself.”
MEMBER’S SON LOBBIED FOR ENERGY COMPANY. Story here. “SunPower tells FOX Business that Rep. George Miller (D-CA) had toured one of its plants last fall, touting it as a success in California. Miller’s son works at a lobbying firm that represents SunPower, which the lobbying firm confirmed to FOX Business.”
AIDE GETS JAIL IN ABRAMOFF-RELATED CASE. Story here. “James Hirni of Charleston, S.C., went to the federal courthouse lockup for about four and a half hours for helping host the 2003 trip to Yankee Stadium.”
LIGHTSQUARED ISSUES IN THE NEWS. The Hill. “Jeff Carlisle, LightSquared’s vice president of regulatory affairs and public policy, accused the Global Positioning System (GPS) industry of trying to manufacture a political scandal to discredit his wireless company on Wednesday.”
(C)(4) ADS UP. Roll Call. “The Tea Party Express is not about to miss the chance to tap donors who want to put unlimited sums of money behind conservative candidates so long as they can do it secretly.”
EDWARDS TRIAL UPDATE. Politico. “President Barack Obama’s appointees at the Justice Department lacked the political courage to stop a Bush-appointed federal prosecutor from indicting former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) on campaign finance-related charges even though the prosecution’s theory is completely unpredecented, Edwards’s lawyers said in a court filing Tuesday.”
NEW WAR ON LOBBYISTS. The Hill. “Lobbyists expect to become a political target for Obama as he runs for reelection.”
TREASURY OFFICIAL CALLED TO TESTIFY ON SOLYNDRA. Story here. “Obama administration emails show that in February, [Gary] Burner told officials with DOE’s loan programs office that they may need DOJ approval for the restructuring, which placed investors who provided additional funding ahead of the government for repayment of the company defaulted.”
HEARING ON FEC POSTPONED.. The Subcommittee on Elections’ hearing scheduled for today on the Federal Election Commission has been postponed.
HAVE A GREAT DAY.