Political law links for Tues., 9/27/16

CLINTON V. TRUMP ON CFR.  HPR.  “We have to educate ourselves and others.”

F.E. AND ALMOST C. DEBATE SHOUT OUT.  WP.  “But you will learn more about Donald Trump by going down to the federal elections, where I filed a 104-page essentially financial statement of sorts, the forms that they have.”  PolitiFact took on this claim last night here.  More information about how to receive copies from the FEC is online here, but there are plenty of sites that have them more readily viewable.

PAY TO PLAY FRAMEWORK.  CWT.  “From a political standpoint, a big question remains: will municipal issuers and their employees and elected officials be held to the same standards of liability as private entities and their employees?”

IL:  CAPS OFF.  DA.  “A $260,000 donation to Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger’s campaign has lifted the caps on political contributions and guarantees a big-money race between the Republican incumbent and Democratic challenger Susana Mendoza.”

MA:  SUPER PAC CAUSE.  BG.  “Advocates of a 2018 constitutional amendment referendum to raise taxes on millionaires and funnel that cash to transportation and education are starting a super PAC to back legislators who support their cause — and, perhaps, attack those who do not.”

NJ:  BIG TOW.  NJ.  “The company whose lucrative city towing contract was renewed last week has given more than $100,000 in campaign contributions to Passaic County political figures over the past 20 years, state records show.”

TX:  COMMISSION APPOINTMENT.  DN.  “Former Rep. Steve Wolens of Dallas, who led a push in the Legislature to overhaul ethics laws, will serve on the Texas Ethics Commission.”

WA:  3 COMPLAINTS.  ST.  “State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Monday announced that he has filed complaints in Thurston County Superior Court alleging shoddy accounting and improper disclosure of contributions.”

WI:  NEW GROUP.  M.com.  “The origins of the group airing the ad, Prosperity for Everyday People, are not known because it and other so-called ‘dark money’ groups operate mostly in secret.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

No debate day drama political law links for Mon.

SUPER PAC ADS.  WLSAM.  “The super PAC funded by two major Republican donors, the Adelson and Ricketts families, is beginning its first advertising push since it relaunched with a searing new spot comparing Hillary Clinton to a Republican president: Richard Nixon.”

REFORMERS ENDORSE.  HP.  “The campaign finance reform organization Every Voice made its first endorsement in a presidential election on Friday, backing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.”

CORPORATE DISBURSEMENT IN U.S. FEDERAL ELECTION WHEN CORPORATION’S LARGEST SHAREHOLDER IS FOREIGN CITIZEN.  NYT.  “A lifetime’s commitment to solving problems in the real world qualifies Hillary Clinton for this job, and the country should put her to work.”

TIMES ON COOPER’S OPINION.  NYT.  “Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the commission to reconsider its dismissal of complaints against two conservative groups that claimed to meet the nonpartisan requirement for tax-exempt ‘social welfare’ agencies, even while they financed television ads in 2010 targeting Democratic candidates.”

GOOGLE DOMINATION.  SB.   “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the greatest tech lobbyist of them all?”

AL:  TRIAL APPROACHING.  MA.  “The case could be the last front in the war over same-sex marriage.”

CA:  BROWN INVESTIGATION.  SB.  “The state’s political ethics commission is launching an investigation into the California Democratic Party after an advocacy group alleged the party acted as a middleman to funnel donations from oil and energy companies to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2014 re-election campaign.”

MO:  CANDIDATES ON ETHICS.  MWB.  “Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster and Republican former Navy SEAL officer Eric Greitens will face off Nov. 8 in Missouri’s gubernatorial election.  The Associated Press asked the candidates about ethics and election issues.”

WA:  LABOR COUNCIL FINED.  WAG.  “In an action brought by the Attorney General’s Office, the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) will pay the state $16,622 over the organization’s failure to timely and properly file lobbyist employer reports of in-kind and cash contributions, as required under the state’s campaign finance laws.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Political law links for Friday, ok

SS REIMBURSEMENT.  WP.  “Donald Trump’s campaign isn’t alone in patronizing his own businesses: taxpayers are indirectly doing so, too.”

LEGAL SERVICES ISSUE.  USAT.  “The FEC probe began in 2011, when Schmidt’s Democratic foe in the 2008 election, David Krikorian, filed a complaint arguing Schmidt should have reported that $500,000 as an in-kind campaign donation. But as a corporation, the TCA is banned by federal law from donating to any candidate for federal office, so it would be an illegal contribution.”

IMPEACHMENT FIGHT VIEW.  NYM.  “Is this whole issue of tax-exempt status for political groups, then, just a nothing-burger all around? Well, not exactly.”

NAME CHANGE GAMBIT.  HP.  “Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, filed a petition with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to change his name to ‘None of the Above’ in hopes of becoming eligible for future presidential debates and to improve his chances of winning the presidency on November 8.”

PERSONAL USE RULING.  DP.  “A federal judge has ruled that former GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell and her campaign committee violated federal campaign finance laws by using campaign contributions to pay her rent.”

HOEBER HUSBAND ALLEGATION.  WP.  “Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) charges in a Federal Election Commission complaint that his Republican challenger in Western Maryland’s 6th District is illegally coordinating with a super PAC, funded almost exclusively by her husband, that has spent more than $1 million on her campaign.”

BOGGS UNITY.  WP.  “This month, Doug was named managing partner of Manatt’s D.C. office, bringing them another step closer; Hale is a senior partner and part of the firm’s executive committee.”

RIDER INCLUDED?  PIRG.  “On Thursday, Senate leadership revealed language for a continuing resolution, which includes a rider preventing the Securities and Exchange Commission from strengthening corporate political spending disclosure.”

AND…  MC.  “The bill also does not address language from last year’s omnibus spending bill that prohibits the use of congressionally appropriated funds for the Securities and Exchange Commission to implement disclosure rules on corporate political donations. Reid and other top Democrats have pushed for an SEC rule that they believe would bring greater transparency to the role of money in politics. But McConnell has resisted these efforts because he and other GOP senators believe the SEC doesn’t have the authority to issue the rule.”

MORE…  PBS.  “But McConnell drafted the measure in hopes of making it as difficult as possible for Democrats to filibuster. For instance, it retains a top McConnell priority, to block the SEC from requiring corporations to disclose political spending permitted under the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision allowing unlimited political spending by businesses. That would extend a current ban that McConnell won last December — but that Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats were eager to reverse.”

NY:  CUOMO SURVIVAIBILITY.  PN.  “Now, the governor must fend off torrents of criticism rushing his way following the federal corruption charges lodged against his closest advisers – some who have dwelled in his inner circle for decades.”

WA:  AG INVESTIGATING.  KING.  “An investigation into alleged campaign finance violations by a candidate for Snohomish County Superior Court Judge has been forwarded to the Attorney General’s office by the Public Disclosure Commission.”

WI:  DEMS ACCUSE.   CBS.  “Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Scott has been accused of breaking campaign finance rules by illegally coordinating with the Republican Governors Association on three television ads.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.