[Political Activity Law]

PEOPLE AND THE POWER.  Backer in Daily Caller. “In the self-congratulatory echo chamber of Washington, it’s easy to attack outsiders for doing exactly what insiders did to achieve power: build organizations, raise money, hire staff, pay vendors, promote ideas.”

TRUMP PAYS IRS.    WP.  “Donald Trump paid the IRS a $2,500 penalty this year, an official at Trump’s company said, after it was revealed that Trump’s charitable foundation had violated tax laws by giving a political contribution to a campaign group connected to Florida’s attorney general.”

USAO RECOMMENDS ON MCDONNELL.  WP.  “Less than three months after the Supreme Court vacated the convictions of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell, the U.S. attorney’s office that prosecuted the Republican has recommended to Justice Department higher-ups that they endeavor to try him again, according to people familiar with the case.”

UNBELIEVABLE AND MCDONNELL.  Heritage.  “If you had any doubt whether or not Obama’s politicized DOJ was deliberately targeting conservative elected officials, this should confirm your suspicions.”

CT:  FREE SPEECH LIMITS.  DS.  “The state’s sanction against the legislative candidates was for mentioning Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, a Democrat, by name in mailings that referenced ‘Malloy’s bad policies’ and ‘Malloy’s tax hike’ for their own races in 2014, when Malloy was also on the ballot.”

HI:  GIFT RULE ISSUE.  HNN.  “On Friday, [the lawmaker] agreed to pay $739 to resolve a state Ethics Commission investigation into alleged gifts, which included an overnight stay for her and her family at the Aulani Disney Resort and Spa in February and a luau at the Paradise Cove in Ko Olina.”

ND:  BIG HOLES CITED.  DP.  “In North Dakota, when an individual or group gives a candidate less than $200, the candidate doesn’t need to report who gave the money. A candidate for statewide office, such as the governor’s office, must at least report the total of those sub-$200 donations, but not a candidate for the state Legislature.”

OK:  FOOTBALL TICKETS NOT OK.  NOK.  “Among the more significant changes is a ban on using campaign funds for admission to athletic events.”

FRA:  TRIAL POSSIBLE FOR SARKOZY.  RFI.  “[Prosecutors] believe that public relations firm Bygmalion, which organised some of his 2012 campaign appearances, sent a bill for 18.5 million euros to Sarkozy’s party, at that time called the UMP, instead of the campaign, thus allowing him to vastly exceed the legal limit of 22.5 million euros.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

MEMBER TO RESIGN.  Politico.  “Rep. Ed Whitfield, the Kentucky Republican dogged by ethics problems around ‘special favors’ he granted his lobbyist wife, is resigning from Congress next week.”

PAINTER ENDORSES CLINTON.  Politico.  “Hillary Clinton is the “only qualified candidate in the race and she should become president,” President George W. Bush’s former chief White House ethics lawyer wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday, while calling on the Democratic nominee to do more to assuage the fears and suspicions about the looming presence of the Clinton Foundation as an influence on policy.”

PAY TO PLAY RULES UPDATE.  BNA.  “FINRA Rule 2030, modeled on the agency’s rule, was proposed late last year (248 SLD, 12/29/15). The rule seeks to prohibit a member firm from engaging in distribution or solicitation activities on an investment adviser’s behalf with a government entity to which the firm has made political contributions within the past two years.”

THINKING ABOUT THE UNTHINKABLE.  USN.  “The scenarios have been seriously considered by few outside of the legal community and likely are too morbid for polite discussion in politically mixed company. But prominent law professors have pondered the effects and possible ways to address a late-date vacancy.”

AK:  COMPLAINT INVOLVING PAC.  ADN.  “Lobbyists are barred from donating to legislative candidates, except for lobbyists who live in the candidate’s district.”

CA:  REFUNDS MAY BE NEEDED.  LAT.  “County supervisor candidate Janice Hahn may have to refund more than $280,000 in contributions from political action committees after county election officials alleged that her committee probably violated campaign finance rules.”

MN:  CHECK ISSUE.  KAA.  “Questions are being raised over whether a local state house candidate from Albert Lea violated campaign finance law.”

MO:  AUDIT DISCLOSES ACCOUNT.  STL.  “According to a stinging report issued Monday by state Auditor Nicole Galloway, the potentially illegal account is used to solicit checks in order to bankroll late-night meals during the legislative session.”

NM:  ETHICS ACCUSATIONS.  SFNM.  “The state Democratic Party filed an ethics complaint against Maestas Barnes for failing to promptly disclose her husband’s ownership interest in a company that has been receiving about $91,000 annually in lease payments from the Human Services Department since at least 2011.”

NY:  NO DELAY.  WSJ.  “A federal judge on Tuesday afternoon denied state Sen. Jack Martins’s request to delay the general election date for New York’s 3rd Congressional District to December.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.  I’ll send around the next set of links early next week.  Have a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend.

CLINTON AND MCDONNELL: DISCUSS.  WP.   “Justice Department officials are actively considering whether to retry former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell on federal corruption charges. That doesn’t sit well with some conservatives who view his dealings with Richmond businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr. as not entirely dissimilar from Hillary Clinton’s interactions with donors to her family’s foundation while she was Secretary of State.”

SUPER PAC PULL BACK.  Politico.  “A major super PAC supporting Senate Democrats is canceling advertisements set to run in early September in Ohio, a sign of increasing concern in Washington that former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland could be squandering his chance to unseat incumbent GOP Sen. Rob Portman.”

NEW SUPER PAC.  NM.  “The campaign group known as Trumpocrats PAC is made up of Democrats who distrust and oppose Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and who have switched their support to the GOP standard bearer.”

AZ:  SPENDING SO FAR.  EAC.  “As Arizonans voted in Tuesday’s primary election, political spending to affect legislative races paid for by outside groups that don’t disclose the source of the money amounted to almost half a million dollars.”

CA:  PAC LIMIT ALLEGATION.  LAT. “n the Aug. 10 letter, County Registrar Dean Logan wrote that Hahn had exceeded the county’s cap on the total amount a campaign committee may accept from political action committees, which is $150,000 per election. From Jan. 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016, Hahn’s campaign received $439,619 from political action committees, the registrar said.”

CA:  CAMPAIGN FINANCE IN ESPANOL.  IND.  “The ability to discover that information raises the transparency level of political influence, and California just added a Spanish-language version of its campaign finance website, Power Search.”

CA:  AB 700 UPDATE.  LHL.  “California senators are rejecting a campaign finance disclosure bill after Republicans and the state’s political watchdog said it would weaken rather than strengthen transparency laws.”

NJ:  CFR PRIORITY.  NJ.  “The Assembly Republican leader, Jon Bramnick, outlined his fall legislative agenda on Tuesday, including bills on campaign finance reform, school funding and resolving the impasse over replenishing the state’s Transportation Trust Fund.”

OR:  FOREIGN DONATIONS ALLEGED.  WW.  “From 2010 through 2012, Oregon campaigns and politicians—including Ted Wheeler, Charlie Hales, Tobias Read and John Kitzhaber—accepted nearly $25,000 in donations from APIC, which was incorporated in Portland.”

CAN:  LIBERALS V. PROGRESSIVES.  GM.  “Among other proposed measures, the Liberals voted down a prohibition on cabinet ministers seeking donations from employees of companies with government contracts, tighter restrictions on taxpayer-funded government advertising and requirements for more transparency from lobbyists.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.