MENENDEZ CASE AND THE NEW WORLD. NorthJersey.com. “‘People are looking at this as though the Justice Department feels it has to step in in the place of the Federal Election Commission and be the primary enforcer, or at least a more assertive enforcer, of campaign finance laws in light of the lack of action by the FEC,’ said Washington attorney Brett G. Kappel, a specialist in political law whose clients include PACs and super PACs.”
BITCOIN ACCEPTED. Mic.com. “Unlike any of the other major Republican presidential hopefuls for 2016, Paul’s campaign accepts bitcoin donations.”
LOBBYING AND MERGER. NYT. “It is a demonstration of how Comcast, the media conglomerate long known for its aggressive lobbying operation, has enlisted a vast network of allies to press federal regulators to approve the $45 billion transaction, much as it did in 2010 as it sought to acquire NBCUniversal.”
BOOKER AND MENENDEZ MONEY. BF. “Sen. Cory Booker’s campaign does not intend to return funds received from a political action committee associated with indicted Sen. Robert Menendez, an aide to Booker told BuzzFeed News.”
NJ: CHARGES FILED. NJ.com. “Community activist and former Trenton council candidate Juan Martinez is facing fines from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission for allegedly failing to report information about contributors to his council campaign in 2010.”
ND: COMPLAINT FILED. GF Herald. “Grand Forks Democrats have filed a federal complaint over reported campaign contributions to North Dakota Republican officials.”
OR: MARCH OF REFORM. OR Live. “All of Oregon’s legislative leaders but one are holding hands to push through through a package of state ethics reforms first aired last month by new Gov. Kate Brown.”
RI: LOOPHOLE BILL. PJ. “House and Senate committees on Tuesday approved bills to plug some of the loopholes that allowed former House Speaker Gordon D. Fox to loot his campaign fund – undetected for years – to pay more than $100,000 in personal expenses, including his mortgage and car loans.”
TX: COMPROMISE? Chron.com. ” A compromise has been reached to allow passage of a controversial Senate ethics bill that would allow state elected officials to be prosecuted in their home counties, rather than in Austin, the bill’s author confirmed Tuesday.”
VT: CASE SETTLED. VTDigger. “The Attorney General’s Office has resolved a complaint arising out of advertising by Pam Pac in support of candidates in the 2013 South Burlington City Council election. The State has reached settlement agreements with Pam Pac, a political committee whose treasurer was Pamela Mackenzie, and with candidates Patricia Nowak and Chris Shaw.”
VT: INJUNCTION SOUGHT. VTDigger. “In a Monday filing in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Corren is seeking a preliminary injunction to stall Sorrell’s civil suit in state Superior Court and asks for a declaratory judgment that Corren’s campaign did not break the law.”
WI: GOALS CLASH. WI Watch. “Two diametrically opposed camps, he noted, both see this as an opportunity.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.