RAPPER CHARGED. CBS. “One of the founding members of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees has been charged in a campaign finance conspiracy that took place during the 2012 presidential election, the Justice Department said Friday.”
PRIVACY AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE. RCP. “HR1 requires so much disclosure of funding sources that, critics say, far from rendering politicians accountable and transparent, it creates a privacy nightmare for ordinary citizens who give to nonprofit organizations.”
FEC IN THE NEWS. CPI. “The Federal Election Commission’s four leaders are offering lawmakers clashing perspectives on the agency’s very purpose.”
MISSING THE STORY. WM. “It is true that a lot of us don’t have the financial means to write out a check for $500—much less $2,800. But those amounts are not what anyone is referring to when we talk about the kind of influence big money has in politics. As a matter of fact, they are a drop in the bucket.”
MONEY BAN CAN WAIT. NPR. “Reform-minded Democrats have long held up ‘dark money’ — political money that can’t be traced to its source — as a symptom of what’s wrong with politics in Washington. But while House Democrats this winter passed a bill to end the secrecy shielding donors behind unregulated dark money contributions, liberal activist groups now deploy those funds to boost the party’s candidates in the 2020 elections.”
CA: NEW APPOINTEE. LAT. “Tapping a political ally, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday appointed Richard Miadich as chairman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces campaign finance and lobbying laws in California.”
MA: END TO LOOPHOLE. ML. “As of May 31, a union or nonprofit will no longer be able to donate up to $15,000 to a single candidate, party or PAC.”
NJ: VETO OR NO? NJS. “Campaign-finance reform advocates launched an 11th-hour effort Thursday to try to persuade Gov. Phil Murphy not to conditionally veto a bill that would require politically active nonprofits to reveal their funders and give New Jersey among the broadest disclosure requirements in the nation.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.