D SUPER PAC DANGER. Roll Call. “Campaign finance reports filed Wednesday yet again point to the basic problem facing Democrat-friendly super PACs as they struggle to catch up with their GOP counterparts: Wealthy liberals are still not playing the big-money game.”
LOWELL ON EDWARDS CASE. The Post. “With respect to former senator Edwards, the department spent more than three years and millions of dollars to invent a criminal theory of campaign-law violations to pursue someone who was basically trying to hide an extramarital affair.”
CHAMBER AND GOOGLE. Story here. “A group of shareholders planned to urge Google Inc. at the company’s annual meeting today to drop its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”
BAUER V. ROVE. HuffPo. “The Obama campaign’s top lawyer fired off a letter to Karl Rove Thursday, demanding a retraction of a ‘mystifying’ comment Rove made and raising questions about his upcoming appearance at a Mitt Romney campaign event.”
SUPREMES CITE CU IN CASE ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY. Knox. v.SEIU, Local 100: “Public-sector unions have the right under the First Amendment to express their views on political and social issues without government interference. See, e.g., Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm’n, 558 U. S. ___ (2010).” Meaning for the Montana case?
DISAFFILIATION. That was the topic of an advisory opinion approved by the Federal Election Commission yesterday.
PUBLIC FUNDING FOR CONVENTIONS ENDING AFTER 2012? Story here. “A bipartisan push to eliminate millions of federal dollars earmarked to each party’s conventions was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on Thursday, handing a win to critics who say taxpayer money shouldn’t be spent on orchestrated presidential nominating coronations at a time of severe budget constraints.”
BATTLE ON VOTING ISSUES. Story here. “Groups on the left are spending more than they have in any previous election to lawyer up, get voters registered early and flood polling locations with trained poll workers and election watchdogs.”
DISCLOSURE DUEL. David Keating and Sheila Krumholz debate disclosure at US News.
NAME CHANGE IN DC. Story here. “The board is now called the D.C. Board of Elections. The official change comes after the enactment of the city’s ethics law, which created the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability, earlier this year.”
LOBBYIST PRIVILEGE ISSUE. Story here. “In the latest skirmish in a legal battle about taxes paid by online-travel companies, a Leon County circuit judge heard arguments Wednesday about email exchanges involving a lobbyist for industry giant Expedia.”
LOBBYIST CHARGED IN RI. Story here. “A federal grand jury has leveled conspiracy and fraud charges against the congressional lobbyist of the now-defunct Middletown firm at the center of a 15-year scheme that allegedly looted $10 million through bogus contracts with the Navy.”
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.