[Political Activity Law]

SCHEDULE FIGHT.  Politico.  “Republicans have opened a new front in the sprawling legal war over the release of State Department emails: a battle to open up thousands of pages of schedules for former President Bill Clinton.”

SUPER PAC SUPPORT.  DS. “Indio businessman Nachhattar Chandi has put more than $500,000 into a super PAC that’s looking to raise twice that amount and produce ads in favor of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and other federal candidates in key states.”

AL:  ALLEGATION OF DONATIONS.  ED.  “Funds donated by the University of Alabama to a nonprofit Alabama Association for Higher Education have directed more than $1.4 million of those funds to political candidates and political action committees in the state since 2014.”

CA:  BLACK HOLE.  SFE.  “The local Democratic Party board is essentially a giant black hole into which millions of dollars swirl.”

CT:  INTEREST IN MALLOY.  CP.  “The federal investigation into Dannel P. Malloy’s re-election campaign began even before Election Day 2014, emails between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the State Elections Enforcement Commission show.”

FL:  IN 18.  MH.  “Barring a court challenge, the package of new campaign-cash restrictions will likely get pushed to the next countywide election — which, at the moment, is in August 2018.”

MO:  LIMIT SUPPORT.  KC.  “Breaking from years of opposition to the idea, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Koster formally came out in support of an initiative petition that would reinstate campaign contribution limits in Missouri.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

RNC RULEZ.  CBS.  “Members of Free the Delegates — the same group that led an unsuccessful movement to allow delegates to ‘vote their conscience’ at the convention — are now petitioning the Republican National committee to hold an emergency meeting to revoke Trump’s nomination, the Washington Post first reported.”

MCMULLIN LAUNCH.  USAT.  “Monday morning [McMullin] announced he was running for president of the United States, and by the end of the day he had his own super PAC backing his quirky independent bid.”

MCMULLIN ON THE BALLOT.  PBS.  “McMullin needs 36,000 signatures to get on the ballot in Arizona, but the filing deadline there is Sept. 9., which gives him more time. Arizona is seen as another potential pickup for Clinton, and reports began circulating Monday that McMullin was considering competing there.”

GETTING INTERACTIVE.  PBS.  “Explore the interactive maps below to investigate the difference between campaign contributions for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.”

SIGNS OF LIFE.  T.  “New records released Monday show Lets Clean Up Washington spent almost $50,000 on a direct mail supporting Beruff. That is in addition to nearly $52,000 it spent a week before that.”

CHALLENGER COMPLAINS.  WLRN.  “Canova claims the leaked emails show Wasserman Schultz illegally used DNC resources for her reelection campaign. He says his opponent used these resources to monitor his campaign and media coverage.”

HONDA DEFENSE DONORS.  LAT.  “Some of the very political benefactors whose names are involved in an ethics complaint against Rep. Mike Honda are helping him defend against it.”

POKEMON LOBBY.  DC.  “Former Arkansan Republican Sen. Tim Hutchinson is now a registered lobbyist for the company behind the popular new Pokémon GO app on Capitol Hill.”

LOBBYIST BAIL.  ABC.  “A former United Airlines lobbyist charged last month with being the middleman in a shakedown involving the ex-chairman of the agency that controls New York City-area airports didn’t enter a plea during an initial court appearance Wednesday.”

CA:  DONOR FINED.  MN.  “A Coliseum authority board member with ties to Councilwoman Desley Brooks has agreed to pay the state $5,000 for laundering donations to Brooks’ 2014 campaign, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission said Monday.”

CA:  DISMISSAL SOUGHT.  SFE.  “A year and a half after being fined $191,000 for campaign violations, Supervisor Mark Farrell’s lawsuit to overturn the fine will be heard in court this week.”

CO:  POTENTIAL FILING ISSUES.  CI.  “Since Vital for Colorado and Building a Better Colorado are registered as nonprofits with the Secretary of State — and not as campaign committees —  their funding sources aren’t disclosed through the campaign finance system.”

VA:  FELONS MUST WAIT.  WP.  A “self-imposed deadline came and went Monday without a single felon’s rights having been restored.”

VA:  OFFICIAL PROBE.  WTOP.  “Authorities say they will investigate allegations that the vice mayor of Newport News may have violated campaign finance reporting laws.”

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THINK TANKS AND INFLUENCE.  NYT.  “On issues as varied as military sales to foreign countries, international trade, highway management systems and real estate development, think tanks have frequently become vehicles for corporate influence and branding campaigns.”

WILL ON T ON CU.  OL.  “It is unlikely that he would nominate to the court persons who believe that the First Amendment, properly construed, requires the deregulation of political speech.”

ELIAS CRUSADE.  WP.  “After a lopsided string of court victories knocking down state voting restrictions, Democratic superlawyer Marc E. Elias was literally flying high last week in his pursuit of other ­Republican-initiated voting laws he says hurt his party’s most loyal constituencies.”

BOOK DEAL.  F.  “There’s nothing illegal about tying campaign contributions to ‘free’ gifts.”

ROYALTY NOVELTY.  WP.  “U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials immediately confiscated the pens for trademark violation. I was told that unless I obtained Trump’s written permission, the pens would be destroyed.”

AL:  NEW TRIAL SOUGHT.  MA.  “Former House Speaker Mike Hubbard Friday moved to overturn his convictions on 12 felony ethics charges, arguing prosecutors used a loose interpretation of the ethics law to secure guilty verdicts and improperly used an expert witness.”

AZ:  FORM SUBMITTED.  YS.  “Yuma County Board of Supervisors Chairman Russ Clark turned in his overdue campaign finance form this week to the Yuma County Elections Office, paying a $230 late fee.”

CA:  FPPC QUESTIONS.  OCR.  “The state’s political watchdog has launched an investigation into whether Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas violated the Political Reform Act by failing to report charitable donations he used his influence to solicit, and by approving public funds to be spent promoting his chief of staff’s business partner.”

TX:  STADIUM FOES FILE.  DN.  “A group opposing the planned $500 million taxpayer subsidy of a new Texas Rangers stadium has filed a state ethics complaint against the city and the pro-stadium campaign.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.