[Political Activity Law]

TURN ON ETHICS CASE.   BN.  “The ethics investigation into Rep. Chris Collins and his stock trades took a serious turn Monday, as the House Committee on Ethics confirmed that it is probing the matter and will continue to do so until at least mid-October.”

ETHICS EXPLOIT.   POL.  “The push, which includes scrubbing GOP incumbents’ legal and financial records, is part of a broader message of accountability the minority is planning for the next election, according to officials who previewed the effort for POLITICO.”

FL:  TRIAL FOR PERSONAL USE.  SSN.  “A trial was due to begin Monday in U.S. District Court in Orlando in a case that alleges former state Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, improperly used campaign funds for personal expenses.”

ID:  SERIES OF PROPOSALS.   IS.  “Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney is now presenting a series of draft bills for various campaign finance reforms that were discussed at the Legislature’s ethics and campaign finance work group’s last meeting, and the lawmakers on the panel are suggesting various changes to the drafts or raising concerns about their wording.”

ME:  PAYING FOR PUBLIC FINANCING.   BDN.  “Lawmakers should scuttle a costly economic development initiative and use the savings to pay for Maine’s public campaign finance program, according to the Maine Citizens for Clean Elections.”

MA:  OUT OF STATE TARGET.   NPN.  “Two citizen-driven initiatives that are inching toward the 2018 ballot seek to curb outside money by capping how much can be given to state candidates and ballot initiatives.”

NM:  FINAL COMMENTS.   ADN.  “Campaign finance regulators in New Mexico are collecting a final round of public comments on rules that would reveal more about who gives money to groups that can spend unlimited amounts to sway elections.”

NY:  RETURN PRESSURE.   NCPR.  “A left-leaning group is asking the state’s top politicians to give back donations from a hedge fund manager who made racially charged comments against New York’s only black female legislative leader. But so far most, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have held on to the money.”

TX:  ONLINE FILINGS AVAILABLE.   DCN.  “The Denton County Elections Administration announced last week that campaign finance filings for county officials are moving online, just in time for the March 6 primary election.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

CABS AND PAY TO PLAY.   NLR.  “On August 17, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) proposed rule amendments to apply its established ‘pay-to-play’ rules to capital acquisition brokers (CABs) that engage in distribution to, or solicitation of, government entities on behalf of investment advisers for compensation.”

DISCLOSURE DEMAND.   CW.  “A continuing soap opera for the past several years has been whether the Securities and Exchange Commission will craft a rule on corporate political donations.”

QUESTIONS ON SALE.   ABC.  “U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s dormant congressional campaign committee recently sold a 2004 motor home at a steep discount to an old friend in the Montana Legislature.”

SLAM ON BOOK TWEET.   WE.  “Walter Shaub, former U.S. Office of Government Ethics director, hit out at President Trump Sunday, castigating him for promoting a campaign surrogate’s book during Hurricane Harvey.”

RECORDS SOUGHT.  CBS.  “CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has requested copies of ‘all records concerning authorization for and the costs of’ Mnuchin and Linton’s use of a government plane to travel to Lexington, Kentucky on August 21, as well as all records pertaining to Mnuchin’s use of a government plane for any purpose since his appointment to the Trump administration.”

CA:  VOTE ON DISCLOSURE.   LAT.  “The basic elements of the ‘California Disclose Act’ have been kicking around Sacramento since 2012. In short, it seeks to ensure that voters have more information about donors who increasingly use a series of bland sounding political committees and groups to remove any fingerprints from the cash they’re spending.”

CA:  VIOLATION ALLEGED.   IV.  “An audit by the California Franchise Tax Board found Dixon City Attorney Doug White – serving as the Treasurer for a campaign for State Assemblyman Adam Gray – committed four violations of the California Government Code regarding political campaign finances.”

FL:  REPEAL UPDATE.   PBP.  “Florida Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala was quick to respond this week to House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s call to abolish public financing for statewide elections.”

MA:  LOBBYIST RATIO.   TEL.  “In the state’s fast-changing business climate, one Massachusetts industry continues to thrive using a tried-and-true business model: Chasing the hearts and minds of state lawmakers and other top politicians.”

NJ:  DEALING WITH PAY TO PLAY.   OBS.  “New Jersey has some strict pay-to-play laws, but contractors are still finding ways to make big donations without running afoul of campaign finance regulations.”

NJ:  MONEY ROUTE.   NYT.   “The process of directing money to candidates in New Jersey through the national groups has been a practice since the state’s pay-to-play law was expanded and toughened in 2004.”

WA:  COMPLAINT FILING WAR.   TT.  “A conservative activist has been taking aim at Democrats and liberal groups for the past year, filing at least 120 complaints saying they’ve broken Washington state’s campaign-finance laws.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

FARA:  LESSONS LEARNED.   FBI.  “Foreign nations may employ Americans or third-country nationals to pursue their national aims, just as they might use hackers, students, businesspeople, and other non-traditional actors, and, in some cases, these aims run contrary to U.S. national security or other U.S. interests. Due to the gravity of today’s threat from state actors, all counterintelligence tools are critical, including FARA.”

CARSON APPEARANCE.  AOL.  “As Carson was set to take the stage at the rally, an announcer introduced him with, ‘the secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson.'”

FL:  PUBLIC FINANCING REPEAL SOUGHT.   PBP.  “House Speaker Richard Corcoran announced Wednesday that he wants to repeal part of the Florida Constitution that provides public financing for statewide election candidates.”

MT:  VERDICT UPHELD.   KPAX.  “The Montana Supreme Court Wednesday rejected an appeal from former state lawmaker Art Wittich in a landmark campaign-finance case, upholding a verdict that he accepted illegal campaign contributions in a 2010 state Senate race.”  The opinion is here.

MT:  FINE UPHELD.   MIS.  “The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a judgment against a former state lawmaker from Bozeman who was fined $68,000 for having been found to have accepted and failed to report illegal corporate contributions.”

TX:  LAW REJECTED.   POL. “A federal judge has ruled that changes Texas made to its voter identification law earlier this year did not go far enough to render the state’s policy constitutional.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.