Mon. political law links 7.21.14

SUMMER RERUNS.  Senate Rules Comm.  “The DISCLOSE Act (S.2516) and the Need for Expanded Public Disclosure of Funds Raised and Spent to Influence Federal Elections” is the tile of Wednesday’s hearing.

SINGLE CANDIDATE SUPER PACS.  HuffPo.  “This year, for the first time since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling unleashed the unlimited-money super PAC, the majority of Senate races feature super PACs that focus on just one candidate.”

FAMILY AFFAIR SUPER PACS.  USAT.  “Candidates’ relatives have funded other super PACs active in this year’s midterm elections for Congress.”

DISMISSAL SOUGHT.  Bond Buyer.  “Based on two court cases, two former JPMorgan bankers want the SEC’s pay-to-play case involving Jefferson County, Ala.’s failed sewer deals dismissed.”

AK:  APOC FINE.  ADN.com.  “The state agency that regulates campaign finance law has fined Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan $187.50 after determining Sullivan used municipal resources to campaign.”

AK:  APOC FINE II.  ADN.com.  “State Rep. Chris Tuck, the minority leader of the Alaska House, will pay a fine of more than $14,000 for mismanaging campaign funds and forfeit nearly $6,000 in unspent campaign funds, under an agreement accepted this week by the Alaska Public Offices Commission.”

CA:  FPPC RULE AT ISSUE.  Daily Pilot.  “Orange County voters will be asked whether they want the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission to enforce local campaign finance rules, a unanimous Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday.”

NH:  DONATION ISSUE.  Concord Monitor.  “A $25,000 contribution from a labor union’s political action committee to Gov. Maggie Hassan is the subject of a complaint filed yesterday by the New Hampshire Republican Party with the state attorney general.”

NH:  BOLTON SUPER PAC UP. CNN.com.  “John Bolton’s super PAC is making its first foray into New Hampshire with an online ad attacking a Democratic congresswoman for fumbling an answer on Benghazi.”

VA:  MCDONNELL ON TRIAL.  WP.  “In recent court filings, McDonnell’s defense attorneys have written that their client’s character will be the ‘centerpiece of his defense’ — and questioned the credibility of prosecutors’ key witness.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Wed. political law links

HOUSE HEARING.  OGR.  “White House Office of Political Affairs: Is Supporting Candidates and Campaign Fund-Raising an Appropriate Use of a Government Office?”

RAVENEL REALITY. Politico. “Ravenel already has a platform to help voters get to know him if they don’t already: He’s one of six stars of Charleston-based reality series, ‘Southern Charm.’ Bravo renewed the series Monday for a second season. Although Ravenel tweeted in June that he didn’t want to be in a possible second series, he changed his mind—partially because the show wouldn’t have gone on without him, and partially for political reasons.”

HUCKABEE TRAVEL NOTED. Politico. “Now a Fox News commentator and highly paid public speaker, Huckabee has in just a few years racked up at least $253,000 in private air travel bills on the way to political events, according to a POLITICO review of federal and state campaign finance records.”

AMENDMENT SOUGHT.  The Hill. “House Democrats are pushing for a constitutional amendment to reverse the effects of the Supreme Court’s decisions deregulating campaign spending.”

MULTIPLE AG’S, MULTIPLE FELONIES ALLEGED.  Utah Policy.  “Former Utah Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow have been arrested on multiple felony charges according to media reports.”

SUAREZ REQUEST.  WKSU.  “The Stark County businessman recently convicted of one charge in a campaign-financing scheme is asking a federal judge to overturn his conviction or grant him a new trial.”

SUPER PAC NON-COMPETE.  USAT.  “Priorities USA Action, the super PAC that’s aiming to raise big dollars for a possible Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, donated heavily to other Democratic groups and raised virtually no money of its own.”

FREEDOM PARTNER RAISES.  Businessweek.  “The Freedom Partners super-PAC was formed on June 13 and will have more flexibility to criticize political candidates by name in commercials than do nonprofit groups.”

HI:  SUPER PAC HELPS.  West HI Today.  “A Honolulu political action committee under investigation for questionable campaign practices has spent thousands this year training six Hawaii County Council candidates how to campaign.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.  I’ll send around the next set of links next week.

Tues. political law links

AMENDMENT UNVEILED.  Politico.  “House Democrats will introduce a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that seeks to overturn two controversial Supreme Court decisions that loosened campaign finance laws.”

REP. JORDAN SEEKS MORE.  Cleveland.com.  “Theorizing that the Federal Election Commission may have destroyed evidence that could be used against a former FEC attorney who admitted campaigning for President Obama’s re-election while on the job, Rep. Jim Jordan wants the agency to provide his investigative subcommittee with information on how it happened to recycle a hard drive that belonged to the lawyer, April Sands.”

UNION MOVES.  Roll Call.  “The AFL-CIO moved $3 million to a Super PAC for use during the 2014 elections, as well as for its Immigration Activism program.”

MA:  PUSH FOR EXEMPTION.  WFB.  “A Massachusetts teachers union is lobbying Democrats to exempt them from strict reporting guidelines in state campaign finance reforms, according to the Boston Globe.”

NY:  RETIREMENT ANNOUNCED.  WBTA.  “State Senator George Maziarz will not be running for re-election in November.”

WA:  LAW EVADES REVIEW.  IJ.org.    “In a decision that leaves the free speech rights of Washingtonians in limbo, late on Friday, July 11, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced it would not consider whether Washington laws that protect incumbents from recall elections by arbitrarily limiting how much money and time citizens may contribute to recall campaigns violates the U.S. Constitution.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.