RULES MOMENTUM. CNBC. “The FEC’s proposed rule change comes after Congress grilled executives from those three internet companies for allowing foreign nationals and propaganda groups to buy issue ads during the 2016 campaign.”
NEW FANGS. NPR. “FARA was enacted in 1938 to combat Nazi and communist propaganda spouting up on the front end of World War II. It doesn’t make propaganda illegal, but instead requires ‘persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity”‘ to reveal the connections they have abroad, including their finances.”
CA: DEADLOCK ON FINE. DR. ” A state panel deadlocked Thursday on an $18,500 penalty proposed for alleged violations of disclosure requirements for contributions and spending by Pam Bertani in her 2014 campaign for Solano County supervisor.”
CT: RETRIAL POSTPONED. CTP. “It took Newton, the confident, recently elected City Council member and former convicted felon, a minute and 40 seconds in front of Judge Laura F. Baldini, who delayed, yet again, his retrial on four charges connected with a mysterious $500 that showed up at a crucial moment back in the summer of 2012 when he tried to make an initial political comeback running for his former state Senate seat.”
MA: FINANCE FLUBS. ML. “A Berkshire County lawyer who ran for Massachusetts Senate failed to fully comply with campaign finance law during the 2016 Democratic primary, according to a state agency.”
TX: REVIEW SOUGHT. TPR. “The Republican Party of Texas’ efforts to elect a more conservative House speaker in 2019 is now in the hands of the Texas Ethics Commission. The commission is considering if some of the party’s tactics qualify as ‘bribery’.”
WA: JUDGE SETTLES. HN. “Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Cindy Larsen will pay a $2,000 fine as part of a settlement with the Attorney General’s Office on allegations she violated campaign finance laws in the 2016 election.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.