[Political Activity Law]

KOCHS AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE.   NBC.  “Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch are well-known for pumping tens of millions of dollars into so-called dark money nonprofits — groups that actively promote or criticize candidates for office but are not required to reveal their donors.”

NO VERDICT.  NYT.  “A day after saying they were deadlocked, jurors in the federal corruption trial of Senator Robert Menendez spent a full day on Tuesday deliberating, and finished without a verdict.”

TRANSFER QUESTIONS.  NW.  “The Kremlin’s foreign ministry sent more than 60 wire transfers worldwide last year, totaling over $380,000, with a memo saying the cash was meant ‘to finance election campaign of 2016,’ a report revealed Tuesday.”

BAN SOLICITATIONS ADVOCATED.   LAW.  “Only if there is a complete firewall between candidates and donors can the public be certain that campaign dollar signs are not dancing in the elected official’s head.”

FEC MEETING.   The agenda for tomorrow’s Federal Election Commission is here.

NC:  STUDIO EXPENSE QUESTIONED.   NANDO.  “TV equipment a political donor helped purchase to fill a studio for Lt. Gov. Dan Forest should be investigated as an illegal campaign contribution, according to a government watchdog group.”

VA:  ROEM AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE.   WP.  “Roem’s victory shows just how fast things can change in politics. But it also makes a broader point about political campaign rules: Strict regulations of campaign contributions do not necessarily make political systems more equal or more diverse.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.  Due to The Federalist Society’s 2017 National Lawyers Convention, this is the last set of links for this week.

MEDIA CORPORATIONS AND BIDEN.   DS.  “Curtailing campaign contributions would radically amplify the volume of media companies by muffling all the other voices in the public square.”

MENENDEZ UPDATE.  USAT.  “After jurors slipped a note to court officials saying they were deadlocked on criminal corruption charges against Sen. Bob Menendez, the judge told them to go home and return Tuesday with a new outlook.”

FB AD ASK.   BB.  “Facebook Inc. says it supports policy measures that promote transparency in online campaign advertising, according to a comment filed with the Federal Election Commission.”

IL:  SELF-FUNDING CRITICISM.   DNW.  “State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) rebuked Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker’s decision to donate $7 million to his own campaign in a Saturday news release.”

MO:  EDITORIAL ON STATE OF LAW.   STL.  “Last year the Legislature passed a law prohibiting campaign funds from being used for investments, but the law doesn’t cover money in political action committees.”

NM:  RULES ALLEGATION.   KRQE.  “The city’s Board of Ethics has determined mayoral candidate and State Auditor Tim Keller violated the Elections Code and the Open and Ethical Elections Code in the City Charter.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

FINRA NOTICE.   NLR.  “The SEC’s pay-to-play rules prohibit an investment adviser and its covered associates from providing or agreeing to provide payment to any person to solicit a government entity for investment advisory services on behalf of the investment adviser, unless the person is a ‘regulated person.'”

THE COORDINATION QUESTION.   WSJ.   “Candidate Clinton railed against Citizens United—a case that involved a documentary film critical of her—arguing that ‘big money’ and “secret spending” are ruining our politics. Is it too much to ask that those who loudly demand greater regulation of political speech and spending themselves abide by the laws already on the books?”

MN:  ETHICS ISSUES ARISE.  MFP.  “Cornish would be in clear violation of House ethics rules, state law or both if the lobbyist gave him wine, food or a campaign contribution in response to that text. The reason for those rules is to avoid any possibility — or even the perception of the possibility — that lawmakers would be influenced by gifts from lobbyists to advance certain legislative or budget priorities.”

MO:  PACS HELP.  CO.  “A new law that caps contributions to state political candidates likely will shift the power in Missouri politics to third parties and reduce information about where the donations come from, according to political consultants who point to a race for a state Senate decided last week as an example of the problem.”

MT:  PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGED.  BDC.  “Bozeman attorney and former Republican state legislator Art Wittich is facing disciplinary action from the Montana Supreme Court stemming from a campaign finance violation case.”

NY:  FIX CITY RULES.   NYP.  “Public funding is supposed to leave candidates less dependent on big-money interests. But the system didn’t deter de Blasio for selling access to City Hall, even if prosecutors decided they couldn’t build a safe case against him.”

OH:  LOOPHOLE TALK.   TR.  “With Tuesday’s blowout defeat, Issue 2 has come and gone. But the fight over the Drug Price Relief Act exposed a serious loophole in Ohio campaign-finance law, and officials in both parties want it closed.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.