Good morning, here are Monday’s political law links, 10/7/13

ETHICS RULES APPLY.  Story here.  “In a memo sent by the general counsel’s office to all branches and major commands, gay couples are told that their spouses’ financial interests are now also owned, in the eyes of the federal government, by the military member or civilian employee.”

ETHICS COMPLAINT FILED.  Story here.  “A watchdog group on Friday filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) for publicaly scolding a park ranger over the closure of the WWII Memorial in the government shutdown.”

BLOOMBERG PAC BUY FOR BOOKER.  Here.  “Bloomberg’s political action committee, Independence USA, is spending $1 million on the ad, according to The New York Times, which first reported the expenditure.”

WHY HAVE LIMITS?  The Times.  “Instead of this piecemeal approach, would it make more sense to just get rid of all limits on political spending, as Senator Mitch McConnell has suggested?”

MONEY, POLITICS, AND THE SUPREMES.  CNN.  “At issue is whether strict limits on direct campaign contributions by individuals — in the Federal Election Campaign Act — violate the First Amendment.”

CU II. The Hill.

MCCUTCHEON PREVIEW.  Nat’l Const. Center.  “The McCutcheon case offers the Supreme Court the opportunity to revisit its decision in Buckley with respect to the constitutionality of the aggregate contribution limits, clarify the Court’s understanding of what constitutes corruption, and the  scope of the government’s interest in preventing it.”

WILL ON MCCUTCHEON.  Here.  “There is no remaining reason to permit incumbents to stipulate how many candidates can receive contributions of a size that Congress itself has deemed innocuous. So, deference to that congressional judgment now requires repudiating Congress’s imposition of aggregate limits.”

SUN VIEW ON MCCUTCHEON.  Here.  “Think what this country needs is to give more political clout to the wealthy and those who seek special favors from government? Well, your wish may soon be granted.”

STAY STRONG, SUPREMES.  The Hill.  “There’s good reason to believe that the Supreme Court will uphold the law and decline to send us down that steep slippery slope. But the fact that this case has reached the Court at all is cause for real concern – and left, right, or center, it should be a wakeup call for anyone concerned with the future of our democracy.”

SUPER PAC SHUTDOWN HIT.  Here.  “It’s 30 seconds of a crying kid, and it’s being run against nine House Republicans, accusing them of shutting down the government because they didn’t get what they wanted.”

FDA AND EMAILS.  Story here.  “A scientific panel that shaped the federal government’s policy for testing the safety and effectiveness of painkillers was funded by major pharmaceutical companies that paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the chance to affect the thinking of the Food and Drug Administration, according to hundreds of e-mails obtained by a public records request.”

LOBBYIST EMAIL IN THE NEWS.  Adweek.  “It’s no secret in Washington that Time Warner Cable has been one of the biggest proponents of retransmission consent reform. The cable company has devoted considerable financial and lobbying resources to get Congress to act and is one of the biggest members of the American Television Alliance, which puts out several press releases a week.”

AZ:  LAW OVERTURNED.  Story here.  “A federal judge has declared a portion of Arizona’s campaign-finance law unconstitutional, finding the definition of political committee ‘vague’ and ‘overbroad.'”

CA:  LOBBYING V. PUBLIC AFFAIRS.  Here.  “In other words: The firm’s lobbyists, who operate under strict disclosure rules and are prohibited from giving politicians gifts worth more than $10, couldn’t legally invite government officials to the race. But they could make sure key politicians were invited by having their non-lobbyist colleagues make the invitation.”

CA:  MAZE OF RULES.  Story here.  “The U-T case raises a larger question about whether regulators can enforce the rules of fairness in a multimedia world.”

NJ:  SUPER PAC UP.  Here.  “Democrats say they’re following the law, which prohibits coordination between the campaigns and the super PAC.”

NY:  ILLEGAL LIMITS.  NY Post.  “Get ready to see a major New York campaign-finance rule get tossed out by the courts.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are political law links for Fri., 10/4

TROUBLE FOR BITCOIN?  Bloomberg.  “The alleged operator of the Bitcoin-based online marketplace Silk Road was arrested in San Francisco yesterday on money-laundering and narcotics-trafficking charges. You can see a copy of the complaint against Ross W. Ulbricht here, and the allegations make for ‘Whoah!’ reading.”

BITCOINS RAISED.  Here.  “When New Hampshire State Rep. Mark Warden last ran for reelection, his campaign staff urged him to try something that few other political candidates have dared to do: accept contributions in bitcoins.”

LOBBYIST BAN PROPOSED.  Politico.  “One Democratic member of Congress wants to ban all lobbyists from Capitol Hill during the government shutdown.” ALL reacts here.

REPORTS TO WATCH.  Roll Call.  “Imminent third-quarter fundraising reports from both House incumbents and current candidates are likely to provide a glimpse into the future as to who may or may not be a member of the 114th Congress.”

LIMITS TO BE WEIGHED.  USAT.  “The new legal fight targets a cornerstone of election rules: the ability of the government to regulate the amount of money individuals can give to presidential and congressional candidates and political parties.”

GUILTY PLEA.  Story here.  “The former head of the Boston FBI office has pleaded guilty to an ethics charge in a plea agreement that spares him from prison time but seeks a $15,000 fine.”

ETHICS AND THE SHUTDOWN.  The Post.  “Federal employees remain covered by conflict of interest laws and other ethical restrictions if they are furloughed in a shutdown, the Office of Government Ethics said Monday.”

SHUTDOWN CAN’T STOP SUPREMES.  Here.  “The Supreme Court will take the bench Monday to begin a term that touches on a broad variety of hot-button issues such as campaign finance, affirmative action, religion, presidential power and abortion restrictions.”

NJ:  DIVENCENZO UPDATE.  Here.  “The state’s election watchdog Wednesday charged Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo — one of New Jersey’s most powerful Democrats and a crucial ally of Republican Gov. Chris Christie — with misusing more than $16,000 in campaign funds and failing to disclose nearly $72,000 in campaign spending over a two-year period.”

WA:  FORMER OFFICIAL CHARGED.  Story here.  “In a politically charged case creating ripples from the state Capitol to the Seattle mayoral race, the former executive director of the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee (SDCC) has been charged with embezzling at least $250,000 in campaign donations to fuel his alcohol and gambling problems.”

INDIA:  PROBE INCONCLUSIVE.  Story here.  “An investigation into allegations that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) lobbied Indian government officials ended without any conclusions, according to a government document obtained by Bloomberg.”

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

Good morning, here are Thursday’s political law links, 10-3-13

MCGEHEE:  KEEP LIMITS.   CNN.  “If the Supreme Court sides with McCutcheon, all it will have done is open new routes for corruption without closing the old ones.”

LIPTAK ON MCCUTCHEON.  The Times.  “The Supreme Court will hear his challenge to the overall limits next Tuesday.”

WALKING DEAD, FEC EDITION.  The Post.  “The computers will be working there to receive your reports, we’re told.”

K ST.  BLITZ.  The Hill.  “While the staffing furloughs have forced some last-minute venue changes and communications problems, trade groups say their events have mostly gone off without a hitch.”

DONATIONS IN THE SHADOWS.  NJ.  “Campaign contributions are going into the dark.”

STATES AND DISCLOSURE.  The Post.  “A group of watchdog organizations will roll out a new multi-state effort to share information and best practices on campaign finance legislation Thursday, the first step in an effort to force organizations that spend millions on political activity to disclose their donors. … ‘This collaboration will enable us to make major inroads in improving the transparency of donors,’ said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission. ‘Ultimately, the group could go in many other directions, such as joining enforcement matters, potentially joining in some sort of pressure groups of states with the federal government.'”

STATE UPDATES IN HI, IA, AND NC VIA WILEY REIN.  Here.

COVINGTON ON SHUTDOWN FILING IMPACT.  Here.

SUIT OVER ALLEGED LEAK.  Story here.  “The National Organization for Marriage will sue the IRS on Thursday, saying it has evidence that someone within the agency leaked the organization’s private donor list to its political enemies in 2012 but that nobody has been held responsible.”

AZ:  LIMITS AT ISSUE.  Here.  “The lawyer for Republican legislative leaders on Friday asked the state Court of Appeals to continue to let politicians take more money from donors, arguing in effect that the old limits were unconstitutional.”

DC:  INVESTIGATIONS DROPPED.  Story here.  “Sometimes, investigations into District politicians don’t turn anything up.”

IA:  SENATOR QUITS.  Story here.  “An Iowa state senator resigned Wednesday after a special investigator found it likely he violated ethics rules by taking money from political entities connected to former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and then denying he’d done so.”

NJ:  COMPLAINT FILED.  Story here.  “The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission today filed a 13-count complaint against Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and treasurer Jorge Martinez charging non-reporting of expenditures and impermissible use of campaign funds.”

WI:  CFR PROPOSAL.  Here.  “A Republican-sponsored bill that would ‘gut’ the state’s campaign financial disclosure laws, according to a critic, is quickly making its way through the legislative process.”

WI:  TRIP DRAWS COMPLAINT.  Here.  “One Wisconsin Now is requesting the Government Accountability Board conduct an investigation of possible state ethics violations after United Sportsmen, a group set to receive a $500,000 grant which was later rescinded, offered a two-day Lake Michigan fishing trip to former Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, who helped author the grant.”

MERGER OF THE CENTURY.  Although I haven’t read Merger of the Century:  Why Canada and America Should Become One Country, I hadn’t really thought about that prospect and found the author’s website interesting.

HAVE A GREAT DAY.