THE CONSTITUTION AND THE COMMISSIONER. DC. “Commissioner Ravel was recently quoted in The Washington Post as saying that her ‘role in the Commission is not to apply constitutional principles’ because she’s ‘not on the Supreme Court.'”
REVISITING DOMESTIC SUBS. NLR. “But how should the law treat U.S. corporations that are subsidiaries of a foreign corporate parent? Are they ‘American’ if run by U.S. citizens, incorporated in the United States, and U.S. citizens make all funding and spending decisions? The Federal Election Commission first answered this question in a 1978 advisory opinion and, in essence concluded that if U.S. citizens control the decisions about contributions and the operation of the PAC, using corporate funds raised from U.S. operations, and the PAC contains only funds from lawful U.S. donors, the ban on “indirect” contributions by a foreign national does not apply, even if the U.S. subsidiary is wholly owned by a foreign parent company.”
120 DAY RULE. NBC. “Under the FEC’s ‘cooling off’ rule, a Super PAC is prohibited from making communications in support of a candidate based on a former campaign staffer’s knowledge of the candidate’s plans, strategies or needs, within 120 days of the staffer leaving a campaign.”
DC: JUDGE SAYS JAIL AFTER ALL FOR THOMPSON. WT. “U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly went beyond the recommendation of prosecutors in sentencing Thompson to prison.”
FL: BOARD SLAMS OFFICIAL. BPB. “A 70-page report released this morning by the Broward Office of the Inspector General shows that Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Robert McKinzie routinely accepted campaign contributions that were over the city’s $250 limit and submitted campaign treasurer’s reports that contained false, inaccurate, or incomplete information.”
FL: BALLOT ACCESS SUIT. NT. “Gihan Perera, who chairs one of the groups that makes up the Accountable Miami-Dade coalition, tells New Times via phone that the lawsuit is designed to force Gimenez to just start counting the petitions already.”
IL: CONTRIBUTIONS CLEARED. CT. “No violations were uncovered in a Lake County Election Board investigation into campaign contributions from East Chicago-based Lubrifleet Power Wash Inc.”
NJ: NEW COMPLAINT. Obs. “A second complaint with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) has been filed by Lumberton Democratic council challenger Terrance Benson.”
NY: COMMON CAUSE WANTS FIX. WRVO. “‘What we don’t have is a balancing between the public’s need to know, and First Amendment and privacy rights,’ said Susan Lerner with Common Cause.”
VT: ALLEGED VIOLATIONS. VTD. “Brady Toensing, a Charlotte lawyer and vice chair of the Vermont Republican Party, alleged Tuesday that a Bernie Sanders’ fundraising email on behalf of Rep. Chris Pearson in May — which netted the candidate $80,000 in his bid for state Senate — breaks state campaign finance laws.”
WA: COMPLAINT AGAINST OFFICIALS. Q13. “The complaint accuses port officials of spending $45,000 of public money to oppose the validity of ballot measures in court. The Chamber and Economic Development Board spent about $10,000 for the same purpose.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.