Here, today’s political law links

WAR CHEST INTEREST. RCJ. “John Thune has so much campaign money socked away that he now makes more from interest and dividends than some other politicians collect from donors.”

OUTSIDE FUNDS. BN. “U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, bracing for another tough election battle in 2018, received at least 81 percent of his nearly $8 million campaign war chest from sources outside Montana, an MTN analysis shows.”

EMAIL SEARCH. PPA. “The FBI reportedly searched Congressman Bob Brady’s email account, the clearest sign they are looking into Brady as part of a probe into his campaign allegedly paying former primary opponent Jimmie Moore to exit the race.”

ETHICS EXIT. POL. “After almost a year in the White House counsel’s office tackling a raft of ethics and financial disclosure issues, James Schultz resigned last week and is returning to private practice at the Philadelphia-based law firm where he previously worked, Cozen O’Connor.”

CA: POSSIBLE PROBE. SMN. “In the wake of an investigation that found Santa Monica’s Huntley Hotel had violated state election laws, the City Council on Tuesday is expected to launch a general probe of possible violations of similar local laws.”

CO: SEEKING REFORM. DC. “To be clear, Boulder’s laws specifically allow individuals to spend as much as they want supporting candidates, so long as they do so in their own name, do not coordinate with others and disclose their expenditures.”

NY: TRACTION IN ALBANY. PR. “The harassment allegations against Hoyt are now the subject of an investigation by the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, an agency that reformers say is structurally flawed because of the influence the governor’s administration has over it through its appointive powers.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

11.22.17 political law links

BRADY SUSPECTED.   WE.  “The FBI is investigating payments Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa., who is suspected of wrongdoing, allegedly made to his opponent in 2012 in an attempt to convince him to suspend his campaign, according to a new report.”

BAUER ON ALLEGATIONS.  JS.   “But this is not a garden-variety campaign finance case. In such cases, the state’s regulatory interests are painstakingly balanced against citizens’ constitutional rights.  In the Trump-campaign Russia relationship, the balance is not the same, for the indisputable reason that Russia has no constitutional right to participate in a US election and the Trump campaign has no such right to solicit or receive the benefits of that participation.”

DONATIONS REVEIVED.   USAT.  “Donations to President Trump’s private charity reached their highest point in almost a decade, nearly $3 million, as he ran a winning campaign for the White House last year, a new tax filing shows.”

CT:  LAWS CHANGED.    CTP.  “Two little-known changes in the new state budget may make it easier for those in wealthier districts to run for the General Assembly while putting time constraints on state election regulators whose staffs in recent years have been targeted for reductions.”

VT:  DISPUTE SETTLED.   WCAX.  “A former candidate for Vermont lieutenant governor is off the hook for a five-figure fine. Dean Corren was the 2014 Progressive and Democratic nominee. Tuesday, a settlement in his campaign finance case dismisses what he considers a trumped up charge.”

VA:  CAMPAIGN FINANCE BILL FILED.   USN.  “Among the measures Democrats discussed in a conference call with reporters is one that would ban the personal use of campaign finance funds. Virginia currently has one of the least restrictive campaign finance systems in the country, with lawmakers only barred from using campaign funds for personal use once they close out their accounts.”

WA:  CAP BUSTED.   SPI.  “The reason is that the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) took out a full-page ad in The Seattle Times for $8,600, delivering a scattershot attack against the two-term incumbent. The ad boosted but did not mention or specifically endorse Holmes’ challenger Scott Lindsay.”

WI:  MEASURE TO APPEAR.   RTN.  “St. Croix County supervisors voted 14-3, with one abstained vote, to include a resolution on the April 3 ballot pledging the county’s support for a U.S. Constitutional amendment for the following specifications: only human beings can have rights, money is not speech and regulating political contributions does not stifle free speech.”

UK:  BREXIT AND RULES.  REU.  “Britain’s Electoral Commission has opened an investigation to establish whether Vote Leave Limited, the organization behind the official campaign to leave the European Union, breached campaign finance rules during the 2016 referendum campaign.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  Safe travels and have an enjoyable break (if you can manage one).  I’ll send around the next set of links early next week.

11.20 political law links

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.