TROLL OR NO? BFN. “Political campaigns and independent expenditure groups have adopted a variety of shady strategies and tactics that involve targeting voters with trollish behavior, and Russia’s intervention in US elections is merely part of a much larger problem.”
POLITICAL LAW MOVERS AND SHAKERS. Balard Spahr. “National law firm Ballard Spahr has significantly expanded the federal capabilities of its noted government relations practice with the addition of a prominent five-member lobbying and public policy group to its Washington, D.C., office, firm Chair Mark Stewart announced today.” Congrats to Kate Belinski on the move.
UDALL TO INTRODUCE. HP. “Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) is leading the effort by Senate Democrats to introduce a companion bill to a major political and electoral reform bill introduced by House Democrats on Jan. 4.”
SCHUMER’S CASE. WT. “He allegedly used his taxpayer-paid state Assembly staff to work on his 1980 congressional campaign. What helped Mr. Schumer dodge the campaign-finance bullet was a combination of legal loopholes and lack of political will to force prosecution — including then-Gov. Mario Cuomo putting the brakes on legal action.“
CA: PAC FACING FINE. EBT. “A political action committee that has spent hundreds of thousands on local elections is expected to be fined for campaign violations, mostly from the 2016 city council race.“
NJ: FEUD AND REFORM. WHYY. “The continuing feud between New Jersey’s two most powerful Democrats could lead to the state finally enacting contribution-disclosure laws for dark-money groups that New Jersey’s campaign watchdog and good government activists have been seeking for years.”
SC: COMMON CAUSE SNAFU. TS. “A longtime S.C. ethics advocate inadvertently caused an ethics stir this week when he gave copies of his book about a State House corruption scandal to members of the General Assembly.”
WA: DISCLOSURE UPHELD. MISS. “A split Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the attorney general’s office can pursue a campaign finance disclosure case against the conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.