[Political Activity Law]

LAST WEEK AT THE FEC. A summary of the week’s activity is here. A set of cases involving Correct the Record was released after being closed by the agency without action. The cases date from the 2016 election cycle and involve alleged coordination between the Clinton campaign and an independent group.

CIVIL PENALTY. AZC. “Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally has agreed to pay a fine of more than $23,000 to settle campaign finance violations from the 2014 election.”

BULLOCK LINK. PI. “But next month, Bullock is scheduled to visit Washington, D.C., for a closed-door campaign fundraiser co-hosted by 11 of the capital’s elite — including a federally registered lobbyist whose clients have contributed corporate cash to groups that don’t disclose their donors, according to an invitation obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.”

CASE CLOSED. JS. “In April 2018, the FBI conducted the Cohen raid, in search of evidence of campaign finance crimes and other wrongdoing. In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to two campaign finance crimes related to the hush payments to Daniels and McDougal and is now serving a three-year prison sentence.”

CA: FINE IN CASE. LAT. “According to the Political Reform Act, certain public officials cannot accept a contribution of more than $250 from any party while a decision affecting the party is pending. Such a party also cannot give more than $250 until at least three months after a final decision is made.”

MO: MAYORAL RACE ALLEGATIONS. CT. “Unsuccessful mayoral candidate Chris Kelly accepted an illegal campaign donation from a corporation but will not be fined or have any other action taken as punishment, the Missouri Ethics Commission decided as it accepted a joint declaration signed by Kelly.”

WV: SEC CLARIFIES. GM. “For nearly three hours Thursday, the State Elections Commission went through public comments on the state’s new campaign finance law received from more than 50 people — many as part of a coordinated effort by West Virginia Citizens for Clean Elections.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

WARREN HIT. FB. “The Federal Election Commission has sent a notice to Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren’s campaign committee, Warren for President, Inc., identifying instances of overly vague accounting descriptions and insufficient details in the campaign’s first quarter financial disclosures.”

COHEN PROBE UPDATE. HILL. “Judge William H. Pauley III wrote in an order issued in the Southern District of New York that the ‘government now represents that it has concluded the aspects of its investigation that justified the continued sealing of the portions of the materials relating to Cohen’s campaign finance violations.'”

WHAT’S COMING. CNS. “Announcing that investigation’s end, a judge ordered prosecutors on Wednesday to quickly disclose new information about how Cohen paid two women to silence their stories about supposed affairs with President Donald Trump.”

MI: MANDATORY MINIMUMS. ML. “Candidates and groups found in violation of Michigan’s campaign finance law could be facing heftier fines in the future under legislation introduced in the state House.”

OR: GETTING ATTENTION. OL. “Congress is talking about the influence of campaign money on environmental policy in Oregon, based on The Oregonian/OregonLive’s reporting.”

PA: SUPER PAC PUSH. PHINQ. “One of the country’s best-funded political committees is planning to spend tens of millions of dollars in an effort to return Pennsylvania to the Democratic column in 2020.”

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GREEN WAVE. POL. “ActBlue, the online fundraising platform used by most Democratic candidates and outside groups, announced that 3.3 million donors contributed $420 million through the platform in the first six months of the year. ActBlue’s first filing of the year with the Federal Election Commission, which covers the same time period, is due at the end of the month.”

AL: NO VIOLATION. USAT. “Clinton Baller, a city resident representing Balance 4 Birmingham, alleged earlier this month that the city violated the Michigan Campaign Finance Act (MCFA) with a mailer regarding myths and facts about the North Old Woodward project.”

CA: VOTERS TO DECIDE. SFE. “Voters will have a chance in November to increase the restrictions on political contributions in the latest campaign finance proposal aimed at pay-to-play politics in San Francisco.”

MN: CANDIDATES FARED. TCPP. “Candidates faced a midnight deadline Monday to file their second-quarter campaign finance reports with the Federal Elections Commission.”

NM: RULE AMENDMENT. KRWG. “Today, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver released a draft amendment to the state’s Campaign Finance Rule and announced a public hearing in the state’s capital to gather community input about the draft amendment.”

TX: ALLEGATIONS MADE. SM. “A campaign finance report filed Monday showed that Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison appears to have violated city campaign finance rules by continuing to raise money after her election last year.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.