[Political Activity Law]

AD WARS COME TO FB. BF. “According to a BuzzFeed News review, Facebook has removed more than 160 ads posted this month by President Donald Trump and some Democratic candidates, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former vice president Joe Biden, and businessperson Tom Steyer. In some cases, Facebook appeared to apply its policies unequally, removing some ads for breaking rules around profanity, fake buttons, and advertising in certain states while leaving others that seemed to do the exact same thing untouched.”

HONEST ADS ANALYSIS. WSJ. “This article is signed by Bradley A. Smith, Lee E. Goodman, and Michael E. Toner, all former chairmen of the Federal Election Commission.”

TRACKING MONEY. WAMU. “Raising money isn’t just a necessity for candidates hoping to make it through the long and expensive presidential primary process — it’s a way to measure candidates’ credibility and staying power in a crowded field.”

GRASSROOTS CHECK. WP. “Money is fungible, so it’s an artifice to claim that money from wealthy donors last time around isn’t being used this time around.”

SUPER PAC FOCUS. WSJ. “Jake Menges, a longtime aide to Rudy Giuliani, said he has stepped down from the law firm Greenberg Traurig to lead a Florida-focused super PAC backing President Trump.”

PLANS OUT. VOX. “Sen. Elizabeth Warren is issuing a challenge to her fellow 2020 competitors with hours to go before the fourth Democratic debate: be transparent about who their donors are, especially if those donors hold positions of power within their presidential campaigns.”

MA: LATE FINE. IL. “Ward 5 City Council candidate Marven Hyppolite has been fined more than $4,000 for failing to file his campaign finance reports on time, according to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF).”

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IG PROBE. LC. “In a letter to the FEC IG Christopher Skinner on Thursday, Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) accused Weintraub of violating federal ethics rules by improperly using the power of her office to further her political agenda.”

CHAIR WARNS. WP. “FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub warns that the charges brought against two associates of President Trump’s personal lawyer highlight the flow of dark money in the U.S. political system — which she says is just the ‘tip of the iceberg.'”

CA: WHY PEOPLE DON’T RUN. FB. “The California Fair Political Practices Commission is proposing to fine me $12,500 for late filing of campaign finance reports during a 90-day period in 2013, even though the FPPC acknowledged in writing that the campaign ‘substantially complied’ with the law, and even though fines for the identical late filings were already paid to the Secretary of State’s Office in 2014.”

KY: MONEY MOVES. DRB. “The Kentucky Education Association’s political action committee has given another six-figure contribution to a Democratic super PAC supporting Attorney General Andy Beshear’s bid to unseat Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.”

NY: LIMITS DEBATE. CL. “The clock is ticking for the New York State Public Campaign Financing and Election Commission to come up with a set of recommendations for a voluntary campaign contribution matching system by December 1.”

TX: REFORM SOUGHT. RA. “According to Special Agent Michelle Lee, a public affairs officer at the FBI-San Antonio office, the number of cases opened in their office doubled from 2012 through 2013 and tripled in 2014.”

VA: REFORM URGED ON PERSONAL USE. WP. “Republicans argue that tightening the law on use of campaign funds is unneeded because lawmakers are unlikely to risk the wrath of donors by abusing their campaign accounts.”

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NEW PROPOSAL. HILL. “A group of House Democrats led by Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) on Tuesday introduced new legislation aimed at combating foreign efforts to interfere in U.S. elections.”

LITTLE SPENDING. CRP. “Fewer competitive special elections and an aversion to super PACs in the Democratic presidential primary are tamping down outside spending so far in the 2020 campaign cycle.”

SHIFTING ON FUNDS. ABC. “Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate who recently proved herself as a top fundraiser in the 2020 race, said this week she will not stop rejecting PAC money or avoiding closed-door, high-dollar fundraisers beyond the Democratic primary and into the general election if she becomes the party’s nominee.”

COVERING COSTS. ST. “The company that operates Target Center told the city of Minneapolis that it could not cover the city’s costs for President Donald Trump’s re-election rally Thursday because that would be considered a campaign contribution, city records show.”

CA: RAVEL RETURNS. WE. “The former Democratic chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission is using calls for impeaching President Trump in her California state Senate bid.”

NJ: FINE FOR 14. NJ. “Ridgewood Councilwoman Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh missed deadlines, some by hundreds of days, when reporting contributions and expenditures during her 2014 campaign for Bergen County freeholder, according to New Jersey’s campaign finance watchdog.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.