ROMNEY MOVIE DEBUT. Politico. The Post has coverage here.
SUPER PACS’ ROLE. The Post. “The high-spending independent groups that have formed to support the presidential candidates may be barred by law from coordinating with the candidates’ campaigns, but that doesn’t mean that their ads can’t sound almost exactly the same.”
SUPER PAC FUNDERS OF 12. Politico. “Meet the three billionaires who could drag out the GOP presidential primary, bloody up front-runner Mitt Romney, and weaken the odds of defeating President Barack Obama: Sheldon Adelson, Foster Friess and Jon Huntsman, Sr.”
SUPER PAC: THE DRAFT LEGISLATION. From Sunlight. They drafted the Stop Undisclosed Payments in Elections from Ruining Public Accountability in Campaigns Act.
$222MM RAISED. Story here. “POLITICO’s Glenn Thrush reports that the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined total of $68 million in the last quarter of 2011, bringing their total 2011 take to $222 million — and exceeding the campaign’s internal target of $200 million for the year. Campaign manager Jim Messina shared the news in a video emailed to supporters.”
FILING FREQUENCY IN THE NEWS. The Times.
CU AT 2. A national day of protest is apparently being planned. More here.
HARPING ON BUNDLERS. The Post. “Yet under current law the only bundlers whose identities candidates must disclose are registered lobbyists.”
FEC MEETING. The agenda for the year’s first meeting of the Federal Election Commission is online here.
APPOINTEE TECHNICALLY REGISTERED. Story here. “Washington Examiner columnist Timothy Carney notes that President Barack Obama’s incoming Domestic Policy Council director, Cecilia Muñoz, is technically a registered lobbyist — despite repeated pledges by the Obama team not to hire lobbyists…”
CONVENTION RULES IN THE NEWS. Story here. “The rules announced last year by the Democratic National Committee forbid the 2012 convention in Charlotte, N.C., from accepting cash from corporations or registered lobbyists, and would cap individual contributions at $100,000.”
DONATION WITNESS REPORTS. Roll Call. “The number of employees of major companies who claim to have witnessed illegal contributions to public officials is four times higher than it was two years ago, according to a new study from a business ethics watchdog group.”
HASTINGS ETHICS NEWS. Story here. “Although the House Ethics Committee announced today that it will continue reviewing the allegations without forming an investigative subcommittee, which could be the committee’s final public statement on the matter unless it decides to hold an ethics trial, a report compiled by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics shows that accounts given by Hastings and his accuser, Winsome Packer, sometimes coincide.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.