[Political Activity Law]

LAW TILT. WSJ. “Campaign-Finance Laws Created Candidate Bloomberg; They don’t level the field; they tilt it to the advantage of billionaires, especially if they own media firms.”

HACKING DEMOCRACY. FED. “Our problem is the campaign finance law. Mike and Bernie prove it. And it’s predominantly Democrats who are to blame.”

NOTHING AT THE FEC. GE. “In the president’s $4.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2021 released on Feb. 10, the commission received about $73 million in operating funding, which is approximately 2.7% more than last year’s $71 million.”

500 PAGE FLAG. BLZE. “The Bernie Sanders campaign’s finances have come under scrutiny from the Federal Election Commission, according to a Sunday letter from the body to the campaign’s treasurer.”

CHEESCAKE USE. DC. “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has spent more than $8,600 on cheesecake in less than a decade, according to a Federal Election Commission report first reported by the New York Post.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

SUPER PAC HIRE. POL. “The pro-veterans super PAC backing Pete Buttigieg hired one of his campaign fundraisers as it threw in for his 2020 campaign, forging a link between the campaign and the outside group that has spent millions of dollars boosting Buttigieg.”

DEBLASIO UPDATE. POL. “The de Blasio campaign’s political directors in Iowa and South Carolina were among those also getting checks from the PACs.”

DONORS CAN’T GIVE. USAT. “Many people may choose not to give their money to a multibillionaire who is ready and willing to fund his campaign. But I want to contribute — to have a horse in the race.”

SUPER PAC UP. POL. “Faith and Power PAC, a super PAC that formed earlier this year, has spent nearly $3 million boosting state Sen. Erica Smith, who is running in the primary against Cal Cunningham, a veteran and former state senator backed by the Senate Democrats’ official campaign arm.”

LAST WEEK AT THE FEC. The agency’s latest weekly digest is here.

FL: REFUND MADE. TBT. “In September, the reelection campaign of Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis took a check for $1,000 from the Rick Mathews Buick GMC dealership. And then on Christmas Eve, it took another $1,000, which is not allowed under Florida election rules.”

WA: ALLEGED VIOLATIONS. ST. “Tim Eyman has been in violation of Washington campaign finance laws for at least the last seven years, concealing nearly $800,000 in political contributions, a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled Friday.”

WI: ELECTION IMPACT. MAD. “Despite having been active in Wisconsin since at least 2011, the group has largely managed to fly under the radar and avoid any real scrutiny thanks in part to its innocuous sounding name.”

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PAYOFF CHARGE. WE. “President Trump accused former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg of trying to buy the presidency and claimed the billionaire was guilty of illegal campaign spending.”

COMPLAINT FILED. WP. “A campaign finance watchdog group has filed a complaint alleging that the presidential campaign of Pete Buttigieg improperly coordinated with VoteVets, a super PAC supporting the campaign of the former mayor of South Bend, Ind.”

FUNDS REMAIN. FOR. “But no matter the scale of their fundraising, each candidate is bound by the rules of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) when it comes to spending their leftover campaign funds.”

NEW SUPER PAC. AXI. “A group of women progressives who back Sen. Elizabeth Warren has formed Persist PAC, a super PAC airing pro-Warren ads starting Wednesday in an effort to boost her performance ahead of Saturday’s crucial Nevada caucuses, a spokesman told Axios.”

CA: RISING SPENDING. EH. “With the Board of Supervisors race focused on the cannabis industry, past decisions that may have been influenced by it and other special interest groups, I’m wondering if voters are also just as concerned by campaign contributions to those in the Assembly District?”

MA: CAMPAIGN FINANCE DEBATE. ML. “kennedy argued that in 2010, the conservative Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates for “dark money, unaccountable money, unaccountable donors and corporate interest to come in … to tilt our policies away from the voices that matter in this country: yours.'”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.