Political Activity Law/Political Law/Election Law

REMAINING FUNDS USE. NCM. “So what happens after November 3 to all the campaign funds that aren’t spent? Corrado says there are four ways the money is allowed to be used. 

STEIN OWES. BI. “The Stein campaign is now out of money, still owing tens of thousands of dollars to the FEC for failing to disclose how it was spending donations, mandatory reports sometimes filed over a year late.”

MONEY CHASE. NYT. “The 2020 election has blown past previous records to become the most expensive campaign in American history, with the final tally for the battle for the White House and control of the Senate and the House expected to hit nearly $14 billion, according to new projections made by the Center for Responsive Politics.”

FIRM GIVING. BI. “Lawyers at Jones Day, which provides outside counsel to President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, have donated $90,000 to Trump’s rival Joe Biden — and just $50 to Trump, according to a Reuters analysis.”

BUNDLER DISCLOSURE. VOX. “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden finally disclosed the roster of his biggest fundraisers on Saturday, unveiling the names of the 820 people who have helped him build a big-money juggernaut.”

PLOWED THROUGH. AP. “President Donald Trump’s sprawling political operation has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire.”

CA: IRVINE INVESTIGATION. VOC. “In a complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, city council candidate Mark Newgent points to a trip Khan took last year to the Republic of Azerbaijan to attend the Fifth World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, saying it violated laws governing how elected officials can accept gifts.”

CA: CAP CONSDERED. DS. “The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will hold its initial public hearing on a proposal to cap individual campaign contributions to local candidates in any election at $20,000.”

MD: SAGA NEWS. FB. “Finance reports submitted by the Nick Mosby campaign show inconsistencies in the campaign’s bank account balance, according to a review by FOX45 News.”

OH: FUNDS FOR FEES. CLE. “Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has spent nearly $950,000 from his campaign account on legal fees since his arrest in July on a federal corruption charge, according to the campaign-finance report he filed with the state on Thursday.”

TX: CORPORATE FUNDS ISSUE. TRN. “Fincannon said he acted quickly to set things right, returning $1,500 in political contributions to two local businesses Tuesday morning to avoid campaign finance violations.”

VT: FINAL REPORT. WCAX. “Friday night marks the final campaign finance report deadline for Vermont candidates before election day. Starting with the incumbent Governor Phil Scott has raised more than $95,000 since October 13th. That’s from about 300 contributors.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY AND VOTE!

CONTRACTOR PENALTY. BGOV. “A Louisiana-based tugboat company that’s received tens of millions of dollars from the U.S. Navy has paid a rare fine for making an illegal $100,000 contribution to a Republican super PAC.”

BALLOT BID. WP. “One elector trying to get rapper Kanye West on the presidential ballot in Wisconsin is married to a former chairwoman of a Republican county committee and was photographed with President Trump at his inaugural.”

BAD TIMING. POL. “The House Ethics Committee found Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) violated campaign finance rules by receiving a campaign salary when she was no longer a congressional candidate — but that she did not have ‘ill intent’ in her actions.”

MONEY HIGH. VOA. “Nonprofit organizations and other outside groups that don’t disclose their donors are spending record amounts of money on the 2020 U.S. presidential and congressional races, signaling their growing influence in national politics.”

NO MEETINGS. LAT. “Under normal circumstances, the commission would have at least four members, the minimum required to meet, issue advisory opinions and approve enforcement action. But circumstances at the agency aren’t normal: For most of the last year the FEC has only had three members, rendering it nearly powerless.”

MO: PAC FINED. KMOV. “A political action committee formed to support Gov. Mike Parson has been fined $2,000 for violating state campaign finance laws.”

OH: ROLE OF LAW. CR. “The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Ohio accuses Householder and four other men of engineering a racketeering and bribery scheme to bail out Ohio’s two nuclear power plants.”

WA: NO DODGE. TS. “In the latest suit, Attorney General Bob Ferguson argued that Facebook has unabashedly continued to violate Washington law, which uniquely requires all political ad-sellers to make significant disclosures about who’s paying for political ads that target state and local elections, as well as details about the reach of those ads.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.