[Political Activity Law]

RULES DANGER. WE. “The only likely outcome of greater disclosure is more harassment of conservatives by far-left politicians and activists, as well as nonprofit organizations losing support because members of the public will fear the exposure that comes from contributing to an organization whose ideals and goals they agree with.”

DEMOCRACY PROBLEM. WJLA. “Here’s the bottom line: Applying overbroad regulations to campaigns (especially at the presidential level) would harm and confuse our democratic system.”

DAF MONEY. CR. “It is often argued that donor-advised funds are “dark money” ploy to funnel money without proper oversight—but are they really so nefarious?”

DECRYING AND BENEFIT. FB. ” South Carolina congressman Joe Cunningham (D.) denounced ‘dark money’ in his run for Congress in 2018, but in the 2020 cycle a dark money group has already announced they will enter the race to buoy his reelection efforts.”

REPORTED PROBE. NYP. “The feds are looking into possible campaign finance misdeeds by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff and lead rainmaker, who suddenly resigned Friday, federal sources told The Post.”

NC: LIGHT SENTENCE. CO. “How did a North Carolina legislator commit at least seven years of campaign finance reporting fraud, yet plead to just one crime that resulted in zero days in jail? We asked, and the answer is troubling.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

DONOR DOX. NR. “Laws mandating disclosure of campaign contributions were originally intended to ensure that the contributions were on the up and up, but they have been turned upside down in today’s take-no-prisoners political climate. Politicians now use disclosure to monitor and police the views of American citizens, calling into question the wisdom of allowing government to surveil so much of our political activity.”

LAST WEEK AT THE FEC. Weekly Digest. The agency closed an ADR matter involving the alleged use of noncommercial aircraft; the ADR agreement provides for no civil money penalty.

COMPLAINT LEVIED. CBS. “These are desperate times for Bill de Blasio and his floundering presidential aspirations. With less than three weeks to qualify for the next big debate, he’s also facing charges of campaign finance violations.”

NAME OF ANOTHER RAISED. HA. “In one of the instances highlighted by the Free Beacon, Gideon donated $1,000 to a Democratic congressional candidate. Then, one month later, her own political action committee, Gideon Leadership PAC, paid her the same amount. You might be able to write that off as a coincidence under normal circumstances, but on her campaign finance disclosure forms she listed the payment as ‘reimbursement for federal contribution.'”

CO: COMPLIANT ON PENNY. CS. “A fundraising technique used by two committees gathering signatures to recall Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis is the subject of a campaign finance complaint to the Secretary of State’s office.”

ID: NO VIOLATION. IP. “To complete the investigation, the Boise City Clerk’s Office hired former Idaho U.S. District Attorney Wendy Olson for $4,034. She found that, despite the fact that Idaho Freedom Foundation has some overlap with Boise Working Together in its posts, there were enough significant differences in their views that they were not in coordination. Olson concluded that Idaho Freedom Foundation has long been posting in opposition of the library project, which is different from Boise Working Together’s stated goal of having a vote on the project.”

NC: FUNDS FORFEIT. NO. “An audit of Forest’s campaign by the North Carolina State Board of Elections found numerous violations. In all, Forest resolved the audit by giving up more than $15,000.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

TWITTER SHUTDOWN. WE. “Twitter locked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign account after it posted a video of activists making threats against the Kentucky Republican at his home.”

CASH CUSHION. POL. “Mayor Bill de Blasio’s struggling presidential campaign benefited from a six-figure boost unavailable to candidates who set up routine exploratory committees and the move has already resulted in formal complaints to the Federal Election Commission.”

MONEY TARGET. WE. “A Democratic nonprofit organization shelling out what gets derided as ‘dark money’ when spent by Republicans is investing heavily to defeat Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, even though she is not one of the most endangered Republicans running for reelection.”

TARGET LIST. USAT. “President Donald Trump’s campaign and several top Republicans on Tuesday slammed Rep. Joaquin Castro, the twin brother and campaign chairman of 2020 presidential hopeful Julián Castro, after he posted a list of Texas Trump donors and their place of business.”

UNUSED CAMPAIGN FUNDS. STAU. “Ever wonder what politicians do with leftover campaign funds when they leave office — either on their own or with the help of voters?”

DC: FAMILY FUNDS. WCP. “The Ward 2 Council candidate’s recent campaign finance report shows that his immediate family members (his brother, his mom, and his in-laws) donated a total of $10,166 to his campaign. That figure also includes the $66 Grossman gave himself.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.