[Political Activity Law]

GUILTY PLEA.  PH.  “According to federal prosecutors, [Michael] Liberty orchestrated a ‘conduit contribution scheme’ in which he convinced employees, associates and family members to each contribute $2,500 to a presidential primary campaign. Liberty then reimbursed those nine individuals a total of $22,500, violating federal laws against such pass-through donations.”

FOLLOW THE RECOUNT MONEY.  H.com.  “Where will all of that money go, though, and how is she allowed to spend it? It turns out attorneys could get almost half of the money raised so far.”

LAST WEEK AT THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.  FEC.  “The complaint alleged that the DNC hired [Cindy] Nava, a foreign national, as an intern who took part in the DNC’s decision-making or management processes and who thus apparently made a prohibited foreign national contribution to the DNC.  DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe the DNC or Nava violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act) because (1) the available information did not indicate that Nava participated in the decision-making or management processes of the DNC and (2) it does not appear that Nava made a contribution to the DNC in the form of services she provided while working there as an intern.”

ALTHOUSE ON FIRST AMENDMENT.  AltH.  “If Trump’s enthusiasm for punishing flag-burning arises out of vengeance toward his political antagonists, it only makes it worse.”

WHO ARE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES GIVING TO?  HA.  “How is it that the federal employees working at these agencies are so overwhelmingly Democratic when it comes to political contributions?”

CT:  COMMISSION MUM.  NB.  “The Ethics Commission met for almost three hours behind closed doors Monday to discuss three complaints filed last month after disclosure of the Connecticut Municipal Energy Cooperative’s lavish annual trips to the Kentucky Derby, which included municipal officials such as Mayor Deb Hinchey and Norwich Public Utilities General Manager John Bilda.”

MA:  ETHICS LAW REVIEW.  ML.  “A new task force will be formed to review Massachusetts’ ethics laws governing public employees under a law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last week.”

MT:  COMPLAINT FILED.  BDC.  “Most details of ethics complaints are confidential under Montana law, but the commissioner of political practices who processes ethics complaints told the Chronicle on Monday the complaint filed Nov. 2 was against Public Service Commissioner Brad Johnson of East Helena.”

SC:  AUDITS WOULD BE PEACHY.  TS.  “For all of the Senate’s resistance to letting the State Ethics Commission investigate legislators and making those investigations public — both changes are set to begin next year — the Senate Ethics Committee has developed an impressive track record of spotting and prosecuting campaign-finance violations.”

WA:  GEMS IN FAILURE.  ST.  “Washington voters were wise to reject Initiative 1464, a flawed approach to reforming state campaign-finance laws. But the initiative contained some smart reforms that should be reconsidered when the Legislature convenes in January.”

WI:  IT’S COMPLICATED.  ESQ.  “Dark money helping to guarantee that majority’s permanent survival. And, eventually, an opposition party giving into the futility of it all. That’s how Wisconsin got the way it is.”

CAN:  CAP CUT.  GM.  “Alberta has introduced dramatic cuts to the amount of cash individuals can donate to political parties and candidates and limits to how much each party can spend during an election, arguing the changes are necessary to limit influence from the affluent.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

LOBBY RETOOL.  WSJ.  “Corporations are scrambling to retool their lobbying efforts as Republicans, preparing for control of the House, Senate and White House come January, hope to break the partisan logjam that has blocked the passage of legislation for six years.”

DONORS AFTER 16.  MJ.  ” It’s true that Trump’s victory has changed what we thought we knew about politics. But does it change what we know about money in politics? Let’s look at the facts.”

RECOUNT FUNDS.  Bloomberg.  “Stein said on her website that she’s raised more than $6 million for her recount effort so far, with a $7 million goal. The funds already raised will cover costs in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, she said.”

LAST CHANCE.  USN.  “Even now, there is still time for [President Obama] to do so, by issuing an executive order requiring large government contractors to disclose their campaign spending.”

INAUGURATION IN VIEW.  NYT.  “President-elect Donald J. Trump will allow corporations and wealthy individuals to make large donations to fund the activities surrounding his inauguration, complicating his promise to eliminate special interests from influencing his government.”

AZ:  COMPLAINT POLITICAL.  ADS.  “Flagstaff Mayor-elect Coral Evans says a complaint filed with the Secretary of State against her campaign committee for taking contributions from two businesses this year and four in 2012 is politically motivated.”

DC:  EMERGENCY LEGISLATION.  WP.  “D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie said he will introduce emergency legislation to bar contributions to political action committees during non-election years in an effort to close what some view as a major campaign finance loophole before the start of 2017.”

NY:  BUSINESS GOOD.  NYP.  “Patrick Jenkins, a longtime friend and $4,000-a-month political adviser to Speaker Carl Heastie, who replaced corrupt Sheldon Silver in the powerful post, has seen his lobbying business triple since his buddy became speaker last year, according to records reviewed by The Post.”

SC:  UPDATE LAWS.  PC.  “Senators also need to reach consensus on campaign finance laws, such as how candidate accounts would work and fundraising limits for the gubernatorial ticket. Current limits are $3,500 for each office separately for the primary and general election.”

TN:  COMPLAINT FILED.  MP.  “Drew Rawlins, executive director of the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, requested an opinion from Attorney General Herbert Slatery about the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 1980 and whether it allows an elected state official running for federal office to make a contribution from his state campaign to his federal campaign account. Rawlins’ request also asks if the answer would change if the contribution is $1,000 or less.”

WA:  LAWYER ACCUSED.  RG.  “The Washington Attorney ­General’s ­Office has charged an ­Everett lawyer with campaign ­finance violations, saying that from 2012 to 2015 he concealed the source of at least $16,000 in political contributions — including donations to ­Attorney General Bob ­Ferguson himself.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.