[Political Activity Law]

NRA DISMISSAL. DC. “The chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission said Friday she supported investigating possible Russian funding for the National Rifle Association based solely on an anonymously-sourced McClatchy article.”

LAST WEEK’S FEC ACTIVITY. Weekly Digest.

FUNDRAISING WOES. POL. “Joe Biden raised $4.6 million online on his first day in the 2020 presidential race, surprising doubters who thought the former vice president couldn’t run a modern campaign. But since then Biden’s online fundraising has tumbled — looking more like flash-in-the-pan opponent Beto O’Rourke than top-tier rivals like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.”

CA: WHAT COMMISSION FOUND. KTVU. “Staff with the Oakland Public Ethics Commission has found that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s campaign accepted donations over the legal limit from the owner of several large properties in the city, and has recommended she return the contributions and pay a fine.”

TN: USE OF FUNDS GUIDANCE. TNN. “Coley, R-Bartlett, subsequently asked Doug Himes, a legislative attorney, whether he would be allowed to use ‘excess campaign funds’ to help ‘defray the cost’ of the trip.”

TX: TAKEAWAYS. TT. “Thanks to a moratorium on fundraising while the Texas Legislature is in session, most state officeholders only had two weeks in June to raise campaign funds in the first half of this year. That didn’t stop them from reporting millions of dollars raised in their semiannual financial reports.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

SALARY RETURNED. SYR. “The democratic candidate for Congress in the 24th district is paying back nearly $7,000 after the Federal Elections Commission notified Dana Balter’s campaign that the money she took as a salary was a violation of campaign finance rules.”

COLLINS TARGETED. SJ. “Maine Momentum, a nonprofit group that does not have to disclose its donors, has purchased more than 4,000 advertising slots on a number of stations to air commercials aimed at educating voters or questioning the Republican senator through early January.”

NJ: WHAT REPORT SAYS. NJ105. “Two of the donors to the ‘dark money’ PAC supporting Gov. Phil Murphy’s political gave a combined $3.6 million contribution as he was pushing for a millionaire’s tax, according to separate media reports.”

TN: PROBE LAUNCH. TNN. “State officials initiated a probe Wednesday of embattled former House Speaker Glen Casada’s campaign finances.”

TN: STATE OWED. TNN. “Two Tennessee agencies that serve as watchdogs of elected officials, candidates and political organizations are owed nearly $1.9 million, according to records provided to The Tennessean.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

FLIPPED DISCOURSE. REASON. “The ability to punish people for supporting or opposing particular political campaigns is one reason a lot of libertarians oppose making political donations public.”

MAJOR SHIFT. FN. “Sixty-one percent of money raised directly by the Trump campaign this election cycle came from small donors (donations under $200), according to Federal Election Commission figures.”

SALARY QUESTION. AP. “Dana Balter, who is vying for the Democratic nomination in the 24th Congressional District, violated Federal Election Commission regulations by accepting a salary from her campaign during the last fundraising quarter.”

MOSTLY FALSE. PF. “Loads of people on the internet are convinced that a portion of every Bang energy drink sale goes directly to President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign or other Trump 2020 efforts.”

DE: DELAWARE DONATES. DO. “Of the more than $725,000 donated by Delawareans to Democratic presidential hopefuls in the first half of the year, 60% went to former Vice President Joe Biden.”

FL: TOTALS RELEASED. GAI. “State political candidates faced a Monday night deadline to file reports showing how much campaign money they raised in July.”

LA: SUPER PAC UP. TA. “Gumbo PAC, a Baton Rouge-based Super PAC run by Democratic operative Trey Ourso, launched the negative spots Monday against Congressman Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone, the two major GOP challengers to Edwards, a Democrat.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.