[Political Activity Law]

FEC:  FOREIGN NATIONAL UPDATE.   FEC.  “The FEC often receives questions about the rules governing foreign nationals’ participation in U.S. elections.”

FEC:  TIP — FILE YOUR REPORT.   FEC.  “Campaign committees (except monthly filing Presidential campaigns) have a report due Saturday, July 15, covering activity after the closing date of their last report through June 30. (Quarterly filing PACs and party committees file on a semi-annual basis in non-election years and must file their reports by July 31.)”

TESTER TACKLES.  MIS.  “U.S. Sen. Jon Tester condemned dark money donations and Russian election interference during a panel discussion at the University of Montana Friday.”

SUPER PAC WORKING.  WE.  “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is accelerating his campaign to defeat Rep. Mo Brooks in a special Senate election in Alabama.”

ELECTION LAW NO FIRM SAY.   WSJ.  “Election-law experts say it is far from clear whether Donald Trump Jr.’s 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer crossed a legal line.”

TRUMP JR. AND THE LAW.   HP.  “Campaign finance laws specifically prohibit political candidates and their associates from soliciting or receiving anything of value to benefit their campaign from foreigners.”

DANGER ON MEETING.   Politico.  “Donald Trump Jr. is in a legal danger zone following his acknowledgment that he met during the heat of the 2016 presidential campaign with a Russian lawyer with Kremlin ties who offered to deliver damaging information about Hillary Clinton.”

WHO TOLD WHAT.   NYT.  “Before arranging a meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer he believed would offer him compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy, according to three people with knowledge of the email.”

BAUER:  POTENTIAL CRIMINAL CASE.  JS.  “There are a host of questions still to be answered about the reported Trump campaign contacts. But the most recent press accounts are especially significant because they include specific statements on the record conceding the Trump campaign’s expressed interest in what the Russians could provide.”

DC:  PROPOSED PAY TO PLAY RULE.   WP.  “Representatives of D.C. business organizations on Monday argued against proposed limits on political donations by companies that do business with the District, saying widespread suspicions that contractors have undue influence at city hall are unwarranted.”

NC:  INVITE ISSUES.   WRAL.  “Current lobbyist and former state Rep. Mike Hager is ‘co-hosting’ a fundraiser for Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, but says he hasn’t broken the state law against political contributions by lobbyists.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

ONE MILLION DOORS.   WE.  “More than a year before the midterm elections, the field team funded by a flush Republican super PAC has knocked on 1 million doors in districts Democrats are targeting in 2018.”

COMPLAINT ON FUNDS.   NS.  “An ethics watchdog group has filed a complaint regarding Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, claiming he inappropriately used campaign funds during his confirmation process.”

PAY TO SON.   DB.  “Rep. Jimmy Duncan Jr., a Republican congressman who represents Knoxville, has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign money into his family members and their businesses since at least 2013, campaign finance filings first reported by the Knoxville News-Sentinel reveal.”

CA:  LOBBYIST DEMOGRAPHICS.   SB.  “The heads of six caucuses in the California Legislature are asking lobbying firms to provide them with demographic data – including race, ethnicity, gender and openly gay or lesbian orientation – on their employees.”

CT:  DEADLINE LOOMS.   WT.  “The growing list of candidates and potential candidates for governor in 2018 is facing the state’s latest fundraising reporting deadline.”

DC:  SUPER PAC MYSTERY.   WAMU.  “The signs are small, but they started popping up along portions of Georgia Avenue NW and Missouri Avenue NW this week: “Run Vince Run!!””

NY:  HAMPTONS FUNDRAISER.   NYDN.  “Gov. Cuomo’s July fund-raising spree will continue Saturday with his second big money Hamptons event in a week.”

OK:  TICKETS AND MEALS.   NOK.  “Lobbyists spent nearly $550,000 on Oklahoma lawmakers, state executives and their staffs over the past year, including $36,000 for gifts, according to Oklahoma Ethics Commission records.”

SD:  CAMPAIGN LINK.    CJ.  “South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs said Friday that an icon in the state’s voter information app that directed users to the Facebook page of her campaign for Congress was an oversight.”

TX:  CHALLENGE REJECTED.    TT.  “The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state’s ban on direct corporate campaign contributions, denying a challenge from a Tea Party group that called it unconstitutional.”

TX:  DAY LATE.   MS.  “Even as Texas Rangers were investigating accusations last fall that she misused public funds, state Rep. Dawnna Dukes missed a deadline for a campaign finance report by one day and was fined $500.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

PRE-LIMIT FUNDRAISER.   USN.  “The first cut of the money raised goes to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. The rest gets spread among the RNC and other various Republican entities. Having multiple beneficiaries is what allowed Trump to ask for well above the usual $5,400 per-donor maximum for each election cycle.”

GA:  IMPROVED DISCLOSURE.   WGN.  “Rutherford County election officials continue to be on the forefront of advancing new ideas and streamlining the election process.”

IL:  BROAD DEFINITION.   CT.  “The definition of a lobbyist established by Chicago’s reinvigorated Board of Ethics is the ‘broadest in the country’ and would include ‘Mom and Pop grocery stores’ inquiring about street repairs, Inspector General Joe Ferguson said Tuesday.”

IL:  ETHICS REWRITE.    CT.  “Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday suggested the city’s definition of a lobbyist should be redefined, a move that comes after individuals who contacted the mayor through his personal email account were found in violation of the city’s lobbying law.”

NM:  PARTISANSHIP CHARGE.   SFNM.  “In a letter to Toulouse Oliver, House GOP Whip Rod Montoya suggested her office’s recent review of campaign fundraising and spending targeted a disproportionate number of Republicans.”

NY:  MATCHING FUND PARTICIPATION.   GG.  “As the September 12 primary elections approach and campaigns kick into high gear, a vast majority of candidates for the city’s elected offices will have their coffers bolstered by the Campaign Finance Board’s (CFB) public matching funds program, which matches eligible donations at a 6-to-1 ratio.”

PA:  SOCIAL CLUB SPENDING.   ABC.  “A campaign finance manager for Philadelphia’s top prosecutor has testified the prosecutor spent campaign funds on ritzy social clubs, facials, massages and a $2,600 birthday party for his girlfriend.”

RI:  MANDATORY AUDITS SOUGHT.   PJ.  “One of the common threads for many of these politicians who have been accused or convicted of running afoul of the law is campaign finance violations.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.   Political law links will take a break until after July 4th.  See you then!