[Political Activity Law]

SUPER PAC SPLURGE.  CNN.  “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s supporters have stepped up their advertising efforts this week, working to counterbalance the fanfare of the Democratic National Convention.”

SUPER PAC SUPPORT.  ST.  “A super PAC has jumped into the race for retiring U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott’s Seattle-area seat, and one candidate who’s not benefiting from the new spending says the move underscores his own commitment to getting outside money out of politics.”

SUPER PAC MOVERS AND SHAKERS.  HT.  “Florida Gov. Rick Scott is going to become national chairman of a super PAC that is backing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.”

SUPER PAC FIRST BUY.  H.  “A top Koch network group is launching a seven-figure ad buy in the Indiana Senate race, targeting Democrat Evan Bayh for his votes for the Wall Street bailout.”

TAKE DOWNS FLY.  NYP.  “Hillary Clinton’s campaign is pressuring TV stations across the country to stop airing an anti-Clinton political ad sponsored by the pro-Trump super-PAC Rebuilding America Now.”

CA:  PAY TO PLAY TACTICS.  BB.  “California State Treasurer John Chiang announced policies Wednesday designed to limit what he calls questionable municipal bond industry bankrolling of local bond election campaigns.”

MT:  CHARGES RELATED TO INDEPENDENT GROUP.  KRTV.  “Yet under the law, AFP does not have to report its donors or spending on the mailer, because the new Montana law to force disclosure of such spending applies only to efforts made within 60 days of an election.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

GUILTY PLEA.  Politico. “A Florida man pled guilty Monday to participating in and covering up a bizarre scheme that wound up getting a man hoping to to become prime minister of Albania into to one of President Barack Obama’s fundraising events in October 2012, weeks before Obama’s re-election.”

LEAK AND RISK.  B.  “The WikiLeaks disclosures suggest a deep ‘coordination’ between the DNC and the Clinton campaign, but there is no direct evidence in the initial dump of hacked emails that there were any ‘coordinated expenditures’ between the DNC and Clinton.”

IRS IN FRAY.  NLR.  “The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued two private letter rulings (PLRs) that may be interesting for tax-exempt organizations that engage in political activity.”

PAY TO PLAY AND PENCE.  JDS.  “Rule 206(4)-5 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Rule) generally prohibits an investment adviser from providing advisory services for compensation to a government entity within two years after the adviser or any of its ‘covered associates’ makes a political contribution to an ‘official’ of that government entity.”

IN:  HOLCOMB CASH.  INS.  “Democrats immediately pounced on the news, calling Pence’s failure to transfer his funds prior to becoming a federal candidate an ‘unforced error.'”

NM:  COMPLAINT FILED.  NMP.  “A campaign finance complaint filed against New Mexico Secretary of State hopeful Nora Espinoza alleges a handful of violations including improperly reporting expenditures and contributions.”

VT:  HEATING UP.  VTD.  “The case involving Attorney General Bill Sorrell’s pursuit of Dean Corren, who ran for lieutenant governor in 2014, is still pending in federal district court in Burlington and Washington County Superior Court.”

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DELEGATES WIN.  PRN.  “The delegates and Pillar brought suit in Wyoming federal court due to a ban against giving any assistance to delegates by corporations, even non-profits.”

LOBBYISTS BUNDLING.  WFB.  “Ted Strickland, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Ohio, accepted over $118,000 in bundled lobbyist contributions this year while his campaign blasted his competitor for relying on ‘wealthy special interests.'”

LOBBYIST RETIRING.  Hill.  “Bruce Josten, second in command at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will be retiring at the end of the year, the powerful business group announced on Monday.”

CA:  LOBBYISTS RULE.  SB.  “Lobbyists are required to file quarterly reports with the state that outline their attempts to sway officials. But the Fair Political Practices Commission is concerned that consultants are lobbying officials without registering with the state, which keeps the public in the dark about the forces behind laws and regulations.”

FL:  SUPER PAC LITIGATION.  BM.  “The ordinance would establish contribution limits for independent-expenditure committees, essentially abolishing super PACs in the city.”

IN:  ABOUT THAT PENCE WARCHEST.  IPM.  “Through the last campaign finance filing period,which ended June 30th, Pence had more than $7 million in his gubernatorial campaign account. That money is now in limbo as state Republicans wait to see what the governor will do with it.”

MO:  COMPLAINT FILED.  STL.  “A former Missouri Republican legislator has filed a state ethics complaint against GOP governor candidate Eric Greitens, alleging that a donation of almost $2 million that Greitens received this month from the unnamed backers of a federal ‘super PAC’ was designed to sidestep Missouri’s campaign disclosure rules.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.