7.29 political law links

STEALTH LOBBYISTS BEWARE.  Holland and Knight (C. DeLacy).  “The recently released 2014 first quarter report of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) disclosed that one ‘entity’ had been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia for ‘failure to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.'”

SUPER PAC CAMPAIGNS.  WP.  “In fact, there is nothing in federal law that would prevent a super PAC or group of PACs from picking out a candidate and taking care of his or her entire campaign. And we’re starting to get a glimpse of what such a campaign might look like.”

KOCH TIES HIT.  The Hill.  “The Democratic Senate Majority PAC is tying Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R) to Charles and David Koch in a new ad, the group’s latest attempt to get voters to distrust her campaign.”

INDEPENDENT SPENDING.  NYT.  “An explosion of spending on political advertising on television — set to break $2 billion in congressional races, with overall spots up nearly 70 percent since the 2010 midterm election — is accelerating the rise of moneyed interests and wresting control from the candidates’ own efforts to reach voters.”

CA:  PAC CLOSED.  KQED.  “In a quiet ending to one of the most high-profile campaign money controversies in California history, the political action committee reprimanded for accepting $11 million from mystery donors in 2012 has closed its doors.”

MA:  SUPER PAC ADS.  Boston Globe.  “The super PAC backing state Treasurer Steve Grossman’s bid for governor released its first television commercial Monday, and it tells viewers that Attorney General Martha Coakley is the ‘wrong choice for governor.'”

MT:  GOING DIGITAL.  Bozeman Daily Chronicle.  “Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices said Thursday that his office has worked out the kinks in the electronic reporting of state candidate and committee finance reporting.”

NY:  CUOMO DEFENDS.  NYT.  “Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday defended his office’s dealings with a panel he appointed to root out public corruption, asserting that his aides offered only ‘advice’ to the commission meant to be helpful.”

VA:  JURY SEATED.  RTD.  “Judge James R. Spencer read the witness lists proffered by the prosecution and defense to see if any prospective jurors knew the witnesses, and had a potential connection that could make them ineligible to serve as one of the 12 jurors or four alternates chosen to decide the case.”

CAN:  CONTRIBUTIONS ISSUE.  CBC.ca.  “The documents show Vogelzang bought tickets to four Tory fundraisers — entire tables in some cases — and expensed the cost. The health region’s board chair, Jean Graham, personally approved some of the expense claims.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.   A link to a Miami Herald story yesterday was broken.  It’s fixed here.

7.28 political law links

SUNLIGHT AND SUPER PAC.  ABC.  “Now, as Obama enthusiastically raises money for Democratic super PACs, he’s embracing some of the same secretive elements of that system, drawing charges of hypocrisy from good-governance advocates who say the public deserves to know what Obama’s saying and to whom he’s saying it when donors pay for a few minutes with the president.”

HOUSE ETHICS UPDATE.  Fox.  “The House Ethics Committee said Friday that it is looking into potential ethics violations by Reps. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and Ed Whitfield, R-Ky.”

AK:  COMPLAINT ON BALLOT MEASURE.  ADN.  “The campaign backing a ballot measure to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in Alaska filed a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices Commission Thursday alleging that statements made by a campaign spokesperson for ‘Big Marijuana. Big Mistake. Vote No on 2’ either highlighted a violation of state campaign disclosure laws or misled the public. ”

FL:  TRIPS IN THE NEWS.  Miami Herald.  “A Times/Herald analysis shows that since late 2011, U.S. Sugar paid more than $95,000 to the Republican Party of Florida for at least 20 weekend trips — destinations unspecified on public documents — within days of more than a dozen Florida politicians registering for Texas hunting licenses.”

VA:  WITNESS ISSUES.  WP.  “With former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell’s trial on public corruption charges just days away, his attorneys want to subpoena materials about the alleged misdeeds of a government witness, saying they might erode her credibility and the credibility of the man for whom she worked.”

WY:  SUIT ON LIMITS.  WT.  “A libertarian group has sued the Wyoming secretary of state in federal court over the state’s limit on political contributions.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

political law links

WHAT’S NEW IN COERCION.  Insidepoliticallaw.com.  “An FEC enforcement action recently made public may be of interest to organizations that use members’ dues for political activities.”

PAYSTAND AND BITCOIN DONATIONS.  MarketWired.  “PayStand, a next generation online payment solution which accepts Bitcoin as well as traditional forms of payment, is in the forefront of the newest wave of political contribution as Bitcoin donations start to hit the mainstream.”

SUMMER FUN WITH SUPER PAC NAME GAME.  Boston Globe.  “We’ve pulled some of the most ambiguous names from recent election cycles. Test your intuitive skills by matching the super PAC with its beneficiary.”

CFR AND POLARIZATION.  WP.  “We concluded that campaign finance reform was a weak tool for reducing partisan polarization, especially of the asymmetric variety that dominates our politics today.”

ROBERTS HITS WITNESS TIES TO DARK MONEY ALLIANCE.  WFB.  “Questioning a witness who said she supports additional disclosure requirements for non-profit groups that exercise their First Amendment rights to too great a degree, Roberts pointed out that the witness’ employer is funded by donors affiliated with the secretive Democracy Alliance.”

ME:  PAC FINE.  WT.  “The Maine Senate president’s leadership political action committee may be fined due to a campaign finance violation.”

MN:  FAILURE TO QUALIFY.  Star Tribune.  “Independence Party candidate Hannah Nicollet said Thursday she failed to qualify for a public campaign subsidy in the Minnesota gubernatorial race, a significant setback that’s a financial gain for her opponents.”

MA:  BILL CLEARED.  Masslive.com.  “The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed campaign finance legislation Wednesday that forces more disclosures from super PACs, an attempt to increase transparency in campaign spending in the post-Citizens United era.”

WI:  SPENDING ON DOE DEFENSE.  JSOnline.  “Gov. Scott Walker funneled more than $320,000 from his campaign account to defense attorneys over the last six months as he and his allies fought a secret probe into fundraising and spending during the 2012 recall election.”

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND.