[Political Activity Law]

MEDIATION EYED.  DP.  “A federal judge is hoping court-ordered mediation can resolve a penalty dispute in a Federal Election Commission lawsuit against former Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell.”

$100 MILLION QUESTION.  WP.  “If he wants to hit $100 million, he will have to ante up nearly $34 million more in the next week. We will get fairly quick disclosure of any new donations he makes, since campaigns now have to report any contributions of $1,000 or more within 48 hours.”

SUPER PAC CONNECT.  WT.  “For a campaign whose official position is antipathy toward big-money political action committees, the Clinton operation was incredibly adept at using them — and may even have crossed the line into illegal coordination. The WikiLeaks emails hint at that kind of activity, and show the campaign breaking the spirit of the rules, though it would be up to the Federal Election Commission to determine whether a provable violation took place.”

SISTER IN LAW LOBBYING.  FN.  “For several months in 2012, Clinton’s final year as secretary of state, Raytheon, the leading defense contractor, hired Podesta’s sister-in-law, Heather Podesta, as a lobbyist, federal records show.”

LATEST ON SUPER PAC DONATIONS.  HP.  “The super rich have managed to increase their influence on elections, even though the 2016 presidential race will cost less than the previous one, reversing a longtime trend.”

CHARITIES GIVING.  CPI.  “Suffolk Cares Inc., a nonprofit charity registered under section 501(c)(3) of federal tax code, gave Correct the Record $100,000 on Sept. 8 and another $150,000 on Oct. 12, according to federal campaign finance documents. Charities of this kind are explicitly prohibited from making political contributions under federal law.”

CA:  DONATION SCRUTINY.  LAT.  “On Sunday, a Times investigation showed that more than 100 donors who were directly or indirectly connected to developer Samuel Leung had made donations totaling more than $600,000 to L.A.-area politicians while his 352-unit Sea Breeze project was being reviewed.”

CA:  GREEN QUESTIONS.  SF.  “The Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, no stranger to on-the-court controversies, was dragged into a political kerfuffle Monday involving an ad he cut for BART.”

NC:  COMPLAINT OVER FUNDS.  NO.  “The N.C. Democratic Party has filed a complaint accusing Republican groups of illegally helping Gov. Pat McCrory by violating the prohibition on corporate contributions and the limit on how much individuals can contribute to political campaigns.”

OR:  DAILY INVESTIGATION.  TWL.  “The Oregon Secretary of State announced Monday that her office will launch an investigation into the campaign finances of Coos Bay mayoral candidate Mark Daily.”

SD:  KOCHS AND BALLOT MEASURE.  PRW.  “The Koch network has mobilized in South Dakota to defeat the ‘South Dakota Accountability and Anti-Corruption Act,’ a state-wide initiative on the ballot November 8.”

TX:  LOGO QUESTION.  PAN.  “An officer or employee of a political subdivision may not knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

$100 MILLION OR NAH.  ABC.  “In the first three weeks of October, Trump gave his campaign only $30,682, bringing his total self-funding to $56.1 million. The minuscule donation came in the form of six in-kind contributions for rent and payroll.”

PAINTER V. COMEY.  LN.  “The former chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House (but now Hillary Clinton supporter) has filed an ethics complaint against FBI Director James Comey over the letter he sent to lawmakers on Friday.”

HATCH ACT CLAIM.  DM.  “Reid also accused Comey of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits government officials from using their position to influence elections.”

BONUS ALLEGATIONS.  BG.  “This pattern of payments — contributions offset by bonus payments — was commonplace at Thornton, according to a review of law firm records by the Spotlight Team and the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based nonprofit that tracks campaign finance data.”

HIGHLIGHTING REFORM.  CL.  “One campaign issue getting a lot of national buzz just a short time ago was the need for national campaign finance reform. Polls showed from 75 percent to 85 percent of Americans believe big money is corrupting the national political process, and the Congresstherefore must reform the way we fund U.S. political campaigns.”

SUPER PAC DUMP.  JSO.  “The race between Democrat Russ Feingold and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has had it all — a peeing baby, a nuclear mushroom cloud, a dog and lots of name-calling.”

LA:  SUPREME COURT RACE.  DP.  “Aside from the contributions made directly to the candidates and reported as required on state campaign finance reports, there are the expenditures made on TV advertisements that don’t overtly call on viewers to vote for one candidate, but which clearly benefit one candidate or another.”

MA:  BREAKING RECORDS.  BG.  “High stakes battles to legalize marijuana and expand charter schools have sparked a tsunami of spending on Massachusetts ballot-question campaigns, much of it from out of state, already eclipsing the record-breaking $30.2 million spent in 2014 — by close to 70 percent.”

SC:  LOBBYIST SPENDING DETAILS.  GS.  “Dozens of lobbyists, registered with the state, made $9.3 million this year lobbying the state’s lawmakers on behalf of companies, interest groups and public entities. Those groups were hoping to get their preferred legislation passed or prevent legislation, which they viewed as harmful, from getting legislators’ stamp of approval.”

VT:  COMPLAINT FILED.  VTD.  “Planned Parenthood Vermont Action Fund IE PAC is registered as an Independent-Expenditures only PAC, but has taken actions that demonstrate it is not operating entirely independent of the candidate, and thus forfeits its status as an Independent Expenditure and requiring immediate enforcement action by the Attorney General.”

WA:  AG FILES.  WAAG.  “The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that it filed a complaint in Thurston County Superior Court today alleging campaign finance violations by the Freedom Foundation. Specifically, the AGO alleges that the Freedom Foundation failed to properly and timely file independent expenditure reports disclosing money it spent to oppose statewide ballot measures.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

SUPER PAC X-TREME.  HP.  “Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, has raised and spent more money than any super PAC since the committees were sanctioned in 2010.”

BOWING OUT.  R.  “At the same time, the two Super PACs associated with Trump’s White House bid have seen their fundraising start to stall out, with one of the groups reserving no broadcast or cable ads between Oct. 20 and Election Day, according to data from ad-tracking firm SMG Delta.”

HALF AS MUCH.  WP.  “Donald Trump raised about half as much as Hillary Clinton for his presidential campaign in the first 19 days of October, putting him at a severe financial disadvantage in the crucial final days of the White House contest, new campaign finance reports filed late Thursday show.”

FEINGOLD HIT.  Hill.  “Feingold’s PAC, which was created after he lost reelection to the Republican Johnson in 2010, has been a frequent target during the race as Johnson’s campaign seeks to illustrate how Feingold has changed since starting his Senate tenure in 1993. The new TV and digital ad, which is part of a seven-figure ad buy, will run statewide through Election Day.”

SESSIONS ETHICS HIT.  YH.  “The American Democracy Legal Fund (ADLF) sent a letter on Monday to Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, urging members of the Senate to take ‘appropriate remedial action’ against Sessions. They allege that Sessions’ claims were a violation of the legislative body’s code of conduct.”

CA:  PUBLIC FINANCING FIGHT.  BS.  “One-third of all money raised for those candidates, nearly $100,000, came from outside Berkeley, though most of it was from the Bay Area and Sacramento.”

CT:  CHANGES SOUGHT.  CTN.  “Aresimowicz, who works for AFSCME Council 4, said he understands the Supreme Court decision makes it legal, but it causes the constituents in the district to lose their voice when large corporations and labor unions can say things that are inconsistent with what the constituents want.”

MT:  AD BUY.  HIR.  “A Democratic super PAC is spending $500,000 on Montana TV ads hoping to tip the scales in favor of Denise Juneau in Montana’s U.S. House race.”

NY:  LEASHED WATCHDOG?  NYP.  “We’ve expressed our worries over the CFB’s independence before: The board’s five members serve staggered five-year terms; the mayor and City Council speaker each appoint two members who must be enrolled in different parties.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.