Political law links

MYSTERY MONEY GUIDE. WSJ. “At issue is the complicated – and frequently perplexing – way the government tallies how much money groups spend on elections. Court rulings in recent years have contributed to the sprawling web of campaign finance disclosures.”

SUPER PAC EMERGES. AJC. “Treasurer Keith Mason says the group launched a six-figure buy in Atlanta.”

GA: ATLANTA WEIGHS IN. Atl. Prog. News. “At the Monday, September 15, 2014, Full Council Meeting, the City Council of Atlanta passed a resolution, 14-R-4121, sponsored by Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large) expressing the support of the City of Atlanta for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S., clarifying that U.S. Congress has the authority to limit campaign contributions.”

MD: FINE WAIVED. WP. “The Maryland State Board of Elections on Thursday found that Republican Larry Hogan had not properly accounted for a poll commissioned before the launch of his gubernatorial bid but voted to waive a $50 fine that it could have imposed.”

MN: DASHBOARD. Minnpost.com. “MinnPost is tracking fundraising totals for candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House in 2014.”

VA: WADING INTO ETHICS. Daily Press. “Gov. Terry McAuliffe will roll out a new set of ethics proposals before the 2015 legislative session, developing them through a bipartisan commission that will also take a deep dive into long-standing traditions of Virginia government.”

AUS: DISCLOSURE DOWN UNDER. Theaustralian.com. “Almost all submissions to the inquiry, headed by former senior public servant and business figure Kerry Schott, have favoured continuous or real-time disclosures of donations, instead of the current regime where donations are made public months after an election.”

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Political law links

SEARCH WARS. NYT. “But sometimes a simple coding mistake can lay bare documents and data that were supposed to be concealed from the prying eyes of the public.”

TRANSPARENCY DEFICIT. NJ. “Information about the number of attendees at a given event—much less their names—can be, at times, hard to come by. Moreover, while many of the president’s fundraising appearances are covered by the White House press corps through a pool reporter, there are occasions, such as the event at the Jefferson Hotel, where the media is shut out.”

DEBATE ISSUES. Stltrib.com. “Third-party candidates upset at being left out of televised debates announced their intention Wednesday to file formal complaints with the Federal Election Commission and county district attorneys, among other officials.”

CASH TOTALS. WSJ. “Senators aren’t required to tithe a share of their campaign funds to the NRSC, which is operating at a $30 million fundraising disadvantage compared to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.”

CORPORATE DISCLOSURE RATED. WP. “Major corporations are increasingly disclosing their political spending this election year, even as some business groups discourage them from doing so, according to a new study set for release Wednesday.”

TECH AND DC. NYT. “At the most transparent end, three tech companies — Microsoft, Qualcomm and Intel — were ranked among the top five. Google, Amazon and Facebook all received below-average scores; Apple’s and Yahoo’s were slightly above average.”

INDEPENDENT GROUP OPPO. WSJ. “The craft of opposition research—finding information that might put an opponent in a negative light—has long been a staple of political campaigns. This year, independent groups are taking a leading role, adding to the research done by candidates and party committees.”

(C)(4) PROPOSALS. Lexology. “At this point, it is not clear what changes, if any, will be enacted with respect to Section 501(c)(4) and/or political activity for other exempt organizations. The number of responses indicate that this is a subject that impacts many interests and any changes would have far-reaching effects.”

CT: MONEY MAP. Monroe Courier. “Data from the State Elections Enforcement Commission and Federal Election Commission detailing itemized contributions to the Democratic and Republican parties’ state and federal accounts from Jan. 1, 2013, to July 31 of this year, was compiled by the CT Mirror news organization.”

VA: ETHICS COMMISSION UPDATE. WP. “Gov. Terry McAuliffe will announce on Thursday the formation of a commission to study ethics, campaign-finance reform and nonpartisan redistricting.”

WI: WALKER UPDATE. WP. “A U.S. appeals court panel on Wednesday lifted an injunction freezing an investigation into possibly illegal campaign coordination between top advisers to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and conservative groups, clearing a roadblock to reviving the two-year-old case.”

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Political law links

SPARED PRISON. NYT. “The conservative author and documentary filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza was spared prison time on Tuesday after pleading guilty earlier this year to violating federal campaign finance laws.”

FAMILY SUPPORT. ADN. “The family of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan has given another $300,000 to an independent group supporting Sullivan’s campaign, after donating more than $350,000 in advance of the Aug. 19 Republican Party primary.”

IE IN GRIMM RACE. SIlive.com. “A conservative Washington super PAC that gets major funding from labor unions and battles against Tea Party Republicans is making a $100,000 independent expenditure on behalf of Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), federal records show.”

SUPER PAC SUPPORT. WFB. “A Kansas City attorney with a lifelong history of supporting Democrats is using his own money and the support of a new super PAC to elect an “independent” Senate candidate who insists he will not be beholden to the Democratic Party.”

GOOGLE AND ALEC. Network World. “Weeks after more than 50 activist groups publicly called upon Google to end its affiliation with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a controversial nonprofit that helps representatives from corporations meet privately with legislators, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt announced on an NPR program this week that the company has withdrawn its support.”

HI: DISCLOSURE COMPLAINT. Mauinow.com. “Political activist Karen Chun of Maui has filed a complaint with the Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission alleging that the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Recovery Market Fund has violated state law by not disclosing the original source of their funds.”

ME: NUMBERS IN. Press Herald. “All three gubernatorial candidates posted strong fundraising numbers during the recent campaign filing period, but Republican incumbent Paul LePage and Democrat Mike Michaud have a lot more money left to spend than independent Eliot Cutler as the race enters the home stretch.”

NYC: NEW PLATFORM. Capitalnewyork.com. “The New York City Campaign Finance Board plans to release an updated online campaign donation platform in mid-2015, board members testified before the City Council’s government operations committee hearing Monday.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.