SCANDAL TWIST. CBS Miami. “According to CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald, Sternad has stated in federal records, for the first time, that Rivera was a part of the conspiracy to funnel illegal contributions to his campaign.”
STOP TARGETING POLITICAL BELIEFS BILL. WP. “But as today’s vote on the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014 demonstrates, the votes are also designed to put several vulnerable House Democrats on the spot by forcing them to vote with Republicans on proposals that they know swing voters back home favor.”
FOCUS ON LERNER. Politico. “House Republicans are gearing up to take their IRS tea party-targeting investigation to a whole new level next week — potentially even holding former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress.”
CHAMBER IN FL. CNN. “The new buy will bring the Chamber’s spending to over the $1 million mark in this campaign, the source said.”
AL: ETHICS BILL CIRCUS. AL.com. “A bill passed out of the Alabama Senate that would enact sweeping ethics reforms was the result of a ‘circus’ and the Alabama House should retool the bill to focus exclusively on preventing lawmakers from leaving office early to become lobbyists, one Alabama lawmaker said today.”
CA: FUNDS TO BE RETURNED. SanJoseInside.com. “Ragan Henninger told San Jose Inside that a supporter’s email announcing a fundraiser before the campaign window began is ‘totally a violation’ and ‘we’re going to return the money.'”
CO: CONFLICT ALLEGED. Denver Post. “Three of the five members who sit on the state’s Independent Ethics Commission have donated to Gov. John Hickenlooper, prompting attorneys for the conservative group that filed a complaint against the governor to ask that their case be sent to a ‘neutral’ administrative law judge.”
IL: CONFLICT DEJA VU? Post-Dispatch. “An Illinois official is under investigation for accepting campaign contributions from a St. Louis-based mining company that he regulated, according to a published report.”
LA: FINES TOTAL. NOLA.com. “State officials in November said they would target politicians and groups that owed ethics fines, including going after the bank accounts and state licenses of politicians who had not paid fines. ”
MD: SUIT DISMISSED. Baltimore Sun. “An Anne Arundel County judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by supporters of gubernatorial candidate Douglas F. Gansler who wanted to prevent his Democratic rivals from raising money during the General Assembly session.”
MT: PETITION DENIED. Lewiston Tribune. “The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition from Montana officials who wanted to revive the state’s ban on political parties endorsing judicial candidates.”
OR: HACK ATTACK. Bizjournals.com. “As a result, the website where campaign finance and business registration information is stored was taken offline.”
PA: SITE REDESIGN. WESA. “The Pennsylvania Department of State has redesigned the portion of its website that contains campaign finance reports. Spokesman Ron Ruman said the old site design was confusing.”
SC: BILL TO BAN MISUSE. The State. “Allowing the use of campaign funds for non-campaign purposes, often personal expenses masquerading as office-related expenses, hides the fact that a pretended campaign contribution by a donor seeking favors is really going to be a bribe for personal uses; and recipients can be even more eager to take personal pocket money than campaign contributions.”
VA: TURKEY DINNERS AND ETHICS. TimesDispatch.com. “The House included an amendment proposed by Del. Scott A. Surovell, D-Fairfax, that would prohibit the governor and attorney general from accepting tangible gifts from representatives of corporations in litigation with the state.”
WV: CFR DEAD. Metro News. “House of Delegates Democrats failed Wednesday to pass a controversial campaign finance reform bill. HB 4463 died when bill supporters failed to get enough votes for passage.”
WI: WALKED REQUIRED PLEDGE. SFGate.com. “Just two months after law enforcement officials raided the home of one of his aides, Gov. Scott Walker began requiring his top agency officials and staff members to sign a pledge that they wouldn’t do illegal campaign work while on state time.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.