THINK TANKS AND INFLUENCE. NYT. “On issues as varied as military sales to foreign countries, international trade, highway management systems and real estate development, think tanks have frequently become vehicles for corporate influence and branding campaigns.”
WILL ON T ON CU. OL. “It is unlikely that he would nominate to the court persons who believe that the First Amendment, properly construed, requires the deregulation of political speech.”
ELIAS CRUSADE. WP. “After a lopsided string of court victories knocking down state voting restrictions, Democratic superlawyer Marc E. Elias was literally flying high last week in his pursuit of other Republican-initiated voting laws he says hurt his party’s most loyal constituencies.”
BOOK DEAL. F. “There’s nothing illegal about tying campaign contributions to ‘free’ gifts.”
ROYALTY NOVELTY. WP. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials immediately confiscated the pens for trademark violation. I was told that unless I obtained Trump’s written permission, the pens would be destroyed.”
AL: NEW TRIAL SOUGHT. MA. “Former House Speaker Mike Hubbard Friday moved to overturn his convictions on 12 felony ethics charges, arguing prosecutors used a loose interpretation of the ethics law to secure guilty verdicts and improperly used an expert witness.”
AZ: FORM SUBMITTED. YS. “Yuma County Board of Supervisors Chairman Russ Clark turned in his overdue campaign finance form this week to the Yuma County Elections Office, paying a $230 late fee.”
CA: FPPC QUESTIONS. OCR. “The state’s political watchdog has launched an investigation into whether Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas violated the Political Reform Act by failing to report charitable donations he used his influence to solicit, and by approving public funds to be spent promoting his chief of staff’s business partner.”
TX: STADIUM FOES FILE. DN. “A group opposing the planned $500 million taxpayer subsidy of a new Texas Rangers stadium has filed a state ethics complaint against the city and the pro-stadium campaign.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.