POLITICAL SPENDING PERIL. HLS. “No publicly traded company would consider a request for a sizable donation from a newly formed charity without exercising rigorous due diligence on how its money will be spent. Doing otherwise would risk its reputation and violate the managers’ fiduciary duties to the company shareholders. Good business practice requires no less of a company when it engages in political spending. Indeed, when it comes to political spending, the risks may even be greater because of the myriad of laws, federal and state, that regulate political spending and reputational challenges posed by greater media scrutiny.”
SPEAKING OF PERIL. FEC. On today’s agenda are several proposals relating to the political activity of U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations. Listen or watch at the link.
MERCER PROFILE. WP. “[Rebekah] Mercer exemplifies a new breed of activist donors that has risen since the Supreme Court kicked off a flood of big money into elections in 2010.”
SUPER PAC PLAYBOOK. WP. “Unlike candidates, super PACs can accept unlimited amounts of money from donors, so they typically focus on getting the biggest checks possible. Then they often spend most of their money on TV ads, one of the most expensive parts of any race and the easiest way to reach millions of voters. Great America sees another way.”
SUPER PAC LEAK PROJECT. NBC. “Correct the Record, one of the well-funded super PACs Brock founded, is creating a WikiLeaks-style project to pay anonymous tipsters for scoops, which they’re calling Trump Leaks.”
AD ISSUE. RGJ. “A professor featured in a super PAC ad against Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Catherine Cortez Masto said he appeared in the ad unwillingly and wants the group to take it down.”
CO: FIXING SPENDING. CI. “A federal lawsuit is currently challenging Colorado’s unique system under which private citizens enforce campaign finance laws at their own expense in an administrative law court. The suit was filed by the target of one such lawsuit and is being prosecuted with the help of Washington, D.C. based lawyers.”
MT: COMMISSIONER RULES. KRTV. “Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl said that Republican state Senate candidate Kantorowicz didn’t timely or fully report his spending on ads in the newsletter or to distribute the newsletter to voters.”
SD: LOOKING AT REFORM. RCJ. “A proposal by a bipartisan panel has the potential to shed more light on campaign contributions in South Dakota while cutting out the middleman.”
TN: STAND FOR CHILDREN TARGETED. TN. “The petition by the consumer rights group questions whether Stand’s political action committee illegally coordinated with several pro-charter school candidates during the election.”
TX: TEC COMMISSIONER WON’T QUIT. TT. “A member of the Texas Ethics Commission is rejecting what he says was an effort by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to get him to resign.”
WI: DOE DOC LEAK. Guardian. “The John Doe Files published today open a door onto how modern US elections operate in the wake of Citizens United, the 2010 US supreme court ruling that unleashed a flood of corporate money into the political process.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.