Political law links 2.13

CRIMINAL COORDINATION PLEA. Justice.gov. “A campaign finance manager and political consultant pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Virginia for coordinating $325,000 in federal election campaign contributions by a political action committee (PAC) to a Congressional campaign committee. This is the first criminal prosecution in the United States based upon the coordination of campaign contributions between political committees.”

FOCUS ON COORDINATION. WP. “Coordination among candidates and independent organizations has been illegal for decades, but in recent years, the boundary between campaigns and their big-money allies has blurred.”

SUPER PAC COORDINATION CRIME. HuffPo. “Tyler Harber, 34, campaign manager for Virginia Republican congressional candidate Chris Perkins, used a super PAC he created to spend $325,000 to support Perkins’ campaign against incumbent Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). Perkins lost the race to Connolly by 25 percentage points.”

FIRST OF ITS KIND. NYT. “The plea appears to mark the first coordination case brought by federal prosecutors since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, which allowed for the creation of political action committees that can raise and spend unlimited money, including from corporations, so long as they do not coordinate the spending with candidates.”

GUILTY PLEA. The Hill. “Harber, who ran the campaigns or consulted for many federal candidates, is among the first to be convicted of coordinated communications between a candidate and an outside group.”

COORDINATION AND FALSE STATEMENTS. Roll Call. “Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to a DOJ aide. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 5.”

REQUEST TO CEASE. The Hill. “Rep. Matt Salmon is preparing to send a cease-and-desist letter to an unaffiliated conservative PAC that has been raising money using the Arizona Republican’s name, the congressman’s aides said Thursday.”

NM: FILLING THE CALENDAR. LCsun-news.com. “Lobbyists and organizations already have spent more than $66,000 on receptions and dinners for New Mexico’s public officials through the first three weeks of this year’s legislative session, which ends March 21, according to an analysis of data on the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website.”

VA: FINE FOR LATE REPORT. Leesburgtoday.com. “Loudoun County’s voter registrar has fined Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio $100 for turning in a campaign finance report late.”

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND. I’ll send around the next set of links on Tuesday.

pol. law links 2.12

WEB OF REGULATION. Examiner. “During a broad FEC hearing to discuss a recent Supreme Court decision that eliminated some donor limits, proponents encouraged the agency to draw up new funding disclosure rules and require even third-party internet-based groups to reveal donors, a move that would extinguish a 2006 decision to keep the agency’s hands off the Internet.”

REIMBURSEMENT SCHOCK. Politico. “Nearly every month since he’s been in Congress, the fourth-term Republican has received roughly $1,000 in ‘private auto mileage’ reimbursements from his Member Representational Allowance. At the same time, he has chartered private jets on the taxpayers’ dime, incurring hefty, five-figure bills. And his campaign has shelled out upward of $50,000 for the use of his vehicle.”

MILBANK ON HEARING FLAVOR. WP. “The most gripping performance was turned in by a woman whose fiance died, she said, because of an antipsychotic drug that was on the market because of ‘dark money’ in politics.”

AIM LOW. NLJ. “Former White House counsel Robert Bauer on Wednesday urged the Federal Election Commission to aim low in crafting new rules for campaign contributions in the wake of a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down certain donation limits.”

LITTLE CONSENSUS. Sunlight. “Equally split between Democrats and Republicans and lacking decisive direction from Congress, the commissioners of the FEC are not likely to take any sweeping action on either issue in the wake of the hearing. ”

CA: GROUP FINED. Voiceoforc.org. “Virginia-based Citizens in Charge and Pennsylvania resident Howard Rich were fined a combined $14,000 by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for three violations of state law requiring public disclosure of campaign contributors, according to FPPC documents.”

NV: SUPREME COURT RULES. CCP. “On February 11th, 2015, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizen Outreach.”

PA: YOU TAKE CASH? CBS. “Milton Street was ten dollars short on the $130 fine that he faced for filing his campaign finance report nine days late. He said his campaign treasurer had had health issues.”

VA: MOVES ON GIFTS. Hamptonroads.com. “The House of Delegates and Senate passed bills that would cap gifts and travel from lobbyists or those with business before the state at $100.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

2.11 political law links

NPR ON HEARING. NPR. “Many of the more than 32,000 Americans who filed comments told the agency to regulate undisclosed political money.”

SUPPORT FOR ELECTRONIC FILING. Clarion Ledger. “Mississippi Republican Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker are supporting legislation to require Senate candidates to electronically file campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission.”

BUNDL LAUNCH. Saintpetersblog.com. “Bundl gives users the ability to track contributions at every stage of the process, offering features like over-limit alerts, live organization-wide synchronization, and downloadable reports.”

MO: WAIT APPROVED. Connectmidmissouri.com. “Senators voted 32-2 Monday in favor of Majority Leader Ron Richard’s ethics bill, which would increase reporting requirements for lobbyist spending and set a two-year cooling-off period before legislators can lobby.”

OK: SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. JDsupra.com. “Significant changes to Oklahoma’s campaign finance, lobbying and gift laws and rules recently went into effect.”

RI: ARREST ON PERSONAL USE. WPRI. “State Rep. Joseph Almeida has been arrested and charged with misappropriating more than $6,000 in campaign contributions for his personal use, the Rhode Island State Police said Tuesday.”

WA: REVOLVING DOOR VIEW. Seattle Times. “Too-loose state ethics laws enable the revolving door to swing freely, with just a few exceptions. A bill, HB 1136, proposed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson and state Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, would update ethics law to require a one-year cooling-off period before lobbying for ex-lawmakers and top staff positions in state agencies, the Legislature and the governor’s office.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.