[Political Activity Law]

NEW PACKAGE. RC. “Pelosi and Sarbanes said during the call that they expect the House to move early next year to pass a bill similar to the current measure, which stretches hundreds of pages. It would set up an optional program to match contributions candidates receive from small donors with six times that amount from the government.”

TIES CUT. FN. “Rep. Ilhan Omar is reportedly severing financial ties with her husband’s political consulting firm after previous payments totaling nearly $2.8 million ignited scrutiny and complaints to a campaign finance watchdog.”

HEARING TODAY. SRULES. The hearing for FEC nominees starts at 10 a.m.

CA: FUNDING REVEALED. FB. “Special interest groups — mainly labor unions, agricultural groups, real estate interests, oil/energy groups and health care interests — top the list for many Republican and Democratic candidates in the central San Joaquin Valley.”

CA: NEW CHIEF. OCB. “The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) today announced the appointment of Angela Brereton as Chief of Enforcement.”

VA: DOMINION ENERGY GIVES. EP. “Dominion Energy has contributed $750,500 to Virginia General Assembly members and political committees so far this year, according to campaign finance reports that its political action committee filed with the Virginia Department of Elections through September.”

WA: TRIAL STARTS. COL. “The state of Washington on Monday began its court case against Tim Eyman, alleging that over the better part of a decade, the serial initiative filer and conservative activist solicited kickbacks, laundered political donations and flouted campaign finance law in an ongoing scheme to enrich himself and deceive his political donors and the public.”

WI: RECOUNT CO$T. WEC. “Wisconsin’s county clerks have submitted cost estimates totaling approximately  $7.9 million for a statewide recount, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

RUN-OFF LIMITS. COV. “Donors seeking to make contributions to support their preferred candidates in these run-offs should be mindful of a variety of restrictions…”

TRANSITION GUIDELINES. COV. “In the alert, we answer key compliance questions regarding the Biden-Harris Transition and the Biden Inaugural Committee.”

PALAZZO PROBE. MST. “The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo’s campaign spending, after a watchdog group in March filed a complaint questioning whether he was using campaign contributions as a “’personal slush fund.'”

FUND DESTINATION. NPR. “Fischer says the language of the Trump campaign’s fundraising emails could severely mislead his supporters.”

MONEY FLOW. TVD. “The unusual way the Trump campaign is divvying up the contributions has drawn scrutiny from election watchdogs, who say Trump and his family are poised to financially benefit from the arrangement.”

FEC PACK. WHO. “Senate Republicans plan to move forward with three Federal Election Commission (FEC) nominations next week, raising concerns that the party is attempting to pack the panel with ‘partisans’ after blocking it from enforcing election laws for more than a year.”

CHAIR ON CLAIMS. NM. “‘State law allows those observers to be in there,’ he said, adding if the law isn’t being followed then this election is ‘illegitimate.'”

FORWARD ON REFORM. HILL. “The amount of money raised and spent this election cycle for president, Senate and House is obscene. Now is the time for serious and meaningful campaign finance reforms.”

CA: COMPLAINTS UP. LAT. “California’s political watchdog agency saw a big jump in the number of complaints alleging campaign law violations for the November election, even in comparison to the tumultuous 2016 presidential election year, and dozens of investigations are ongoing, officials say.”

MO: CLEARED IN CASE. STL. “Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has closed an investigation into Democratic Auditor Nicole Galloway over a GOP group’s allegations of campaign finance violations.”

SD: PITCH CONFUSION. NBC. “Federal election law makes it difficult for state campaign committees like Noem’s to donate to federal campaigns because it would have to ensure the donations it receives meet federal contribution limits.”

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FRA: DECISIONS MADE. LF. “It’s a juicy story, if a bit confusing. The scandal involves a labyrinth of political operatives, secret bank accounts and—of course—two early modern Dutch paintings. It also involves the idiosyncrasies of French criminal procedure.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

RECOUNT RAISING. HILL. “The Trump and Biden campaigns on Wednesday blitzed supporters with fundraising requests in anticipation of drawn-out legal fights around the closely contested presidential election.”

POST-ELECTION HATCH ACT. FNN. “Federal employees could violate the Hatch Act in this case by, for example, forwarding emails to coworkers from a political party, wearing a T-shirt in support or opposition of a particular party or posting on social media about a political group while on duty, according to the guidance.”

LATE ADS. CNBC. “A little-known dark money group has quietly spent almost half a million dollars in the buildup to Election Day on digital ads against an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.”

NE: LACK OF LIMITS. NTV. “So for better or for worse its clear that big money has a big influence on politics here in the Cornhusker state and the experts see the amount of money being thrown into Nebraska races grow every year and they say without a new focus on limiting campaign spending Nebraska elections could stop coming down to who shows up to vote and more about who shows up to write a check.”

NC: MONEY FLOWS. JN. “And who knew that a campaign for a single seat in the Legislature could wind up costing millions?”

OR: OPEN TO LIMITS. OPB. “Limits to campaign contributions and spending should be explicitly allowed in the state’s constitution, Oregon voters decided Tuesday.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.