$100 MILLION OR NAH. ABC. “In the first three weeks of October, Trump gave his campaign only $30,682, bringing his total self-funding to $56.1 million. The minuscule donation came in the form of six in-kind contributions for rent and payroll.”
PAINTER V. COMEY. LN. “The former chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House (but now Hillary Clinton supporter) has filed an ethics complaint against FBI Director James Comey over the letter he sent to lawmakers on Friday.”
HATCH ACT CLAIM. DM. “Reid also accused Comey of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits government officials from using their position to influence elections.”
BONUS ALLEGATIONS. BG. “This pattern of payments — contributions offset by bonus payments — was commonplace at Thornton, according to a review of law firm records by the Spotlight Team and the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based nonprofit that tracks campaign finance data.”
HIGHLIGHTING REFORM. CL. “One campaign issue getting a lot of national buzz just a short time ago was the need for national campaign finance reform. Polls showed from 75 percent to 85 percent of Americans believe big money is corrupting the national political process, and the Congresstherefore must reform the way we fund U.S. political campaigns.”
SUPER PAC DUMP. JSO. “The race between Democrat Russ Feingold and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has had it all — a peeing baby, a nuclear mushroom cloud, a dog and lots of name-calling.”
LA: SUPREME COURT RACE. DP. “Aside from the contributions made directly to the candidates and reported as required on state campaign finance reports, there are the expenditures made on TV advertisements that don’t overtly call on viewers to vote for one candidate, but which clearly benefit one candidate or another.”
MA: BREAKING RECORDS. BG. “High stakes battles to legalize marijuana and expand charter schools have sparked a tsunami of spending on Massachusetts ballot-question campaigns, much of it from out of state, already eclipsing the record-breaking $30.2 million spent in 2014 — by close to 70 percent.”
SC: LOBBYIST SPENDING DETAILS. GS. “Dozens of lobbyists, registered with the state, made $9.3 million this year lobbying the state’s lawmakers on behalf of companies, interest groups and public entities. Those groups were hoping to get their preferred legislation passed or prevent legislation, which they viewed as harmful, from getting legislators’ stamp of approval.”
VT: COMPLAINT FILED. VTD. “Planned Parenthood Vermont Action Fund IE PAC is registered as an Independent-Expenditures only PAC, but has taken actions that demonstrate it is not operating entirely independent of the candidate, and thus forfeits its status as an Independent Expenditure and requiring immediate enforcement action by the Attorney General.”
WA: AG FILES. WAAG. “The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that it filed a complaint in Thurston County Superior Court today alleging campaign finance violations by the Freedom Foundation. Specifically, the AGO alleges that the Freedom Foundation failed to properly and timely file independent expenditure reports disclosing money it spent to oppose statewide ballot measures.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.