CHANGES CONSIDERED.   RC.  “Lawmakers continue to debate major changes to political money regulations as part of a year-end spending package, despite opposition from numerous congressional Democrats and campaign finance watchdog groups.”

NEW CHARGES.   PHI.  “Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed new charges against a top aide to U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, accusing Ken Smukler of obstructing a federal investigation and concealing illegal contributions to Marjorie Margolies, a former member of Congress from Montgomery County who ran again in 2014.”

CASE CONTINUES.   EN.  “The prosecution laid out a wide-ranging fraud case against Stockman, saying he stole charitable donations and funneled them through a series of bank accounts and then lied to cover his tracks.”

COOPER’S OPINION.   WP.  “A federal judge on Tuesday said the Federal Election Commission failed to enforce campaign finance disclosure requirements against an outside group that ran political advertisements in the weeks leading up to the 2010 midterms.”

CA:  BAN CONSIDERED.  LAT.  “Dunn’s contributions are allowed by state law, but some believe such payments undermine public confidence in the appointment process. That concern is behind a new proposal by Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) to outlaw contributions to senators by political appointees for up to a year between the time they are chosen by the governor until their required confirmation by the Senate.”

WA:  COUNTY PARTY COMPLAINTS.   CO.  “The number of complaints made to the Public Disclosure Commission more than doubled to 796 in 2017, up from 309 in 2016. Spokeswoman Kim Bradford said the PDC saw a sharp rise in those that were linked to so-called citizen action notices last year. In 2017, the PDC received 283, compared to 36 in 2016.”

FRA:   SARKOZY DETAINED.   BB.  “Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was detained for questioning by police in an investigation into suspected illegal financing of his successful 2007 campaign, a person familiar with the matter said.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.