[Political Activity Law]

VIOLATIONS SETTLED. JDS. “This settlement is a reminder to all foreign-headquartered companies with U.S. subsidiaries (or U.S. companies with foreign operations) that strict separation between U.S. electoral engagement and foreign individuals and companies is required by law.”

FIRST LAUNCH. CNN. “A leading Democratic super PAC launched its first digital ad campaign of the 2020 election cycle Tuesday after pledging to spend $100 million on early efforts in key battleground states.”

AK: REFORM TOUR. KTOO. “The amendment that [Jeff] Clements’ group proposes would nullify parts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. It struck down many laws that capped how much corporations and individuals could spend in political campaigns.”

AZ: CITY RULES. EAC. “Attorney General Mark Brnovich is going to rule whether cities can impose their own prohibitions on ‘dark money’ in local campaigns.”

DC: MEMBER FINED. WP. “D.C. Council Member Brandon T. Todd (D-Ward 4) has been fined $4,000 after campaign-finance regulators found that he improperly used government resources to try to sway a State Board of Education race last year.”

MN: COMPLAINT FILED. BP. “Just two months after the state Office of Administrative Hearings wrapped up a series of Bemidji campaign finance cases from the 2018 election, another has made its way onto the docket.”

WV: VETO URGED. FT. “Legislators from the State Senate and House of Delegates joined together today to call on Governor Jim Justice to veto Senate Bill 622, the campaign finance reform bill recently passed by the Legislature.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

SCAM PAC ARREST. BRA. “An 80-year-old California man was arrested Tuesday after prosecutors accused him of swindling more than $250,000 from thousands of donors who thought they were giving money to support Bernie Sanders, Beto O’Rourke and other progressive candidates and causes.”

DONOR TICKET. WP. “Hitting 65,000 has become a magic ticket for many of the party’s presidential candidates, who are struggling to rank in public polls given a field that already has 15 contenders, with several more waiting in the wings. The new criteria have proved to be a boon to lesser-known candidates seeking a national stage this summer and could create challenges for more-established politicians seeking to break away from the pack — with unpredictable repercussions for the party.”

CALL FOR FEC/FCC ACTION. USAT. “If FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai responds to Trump’s latest request, she says it’s likely to be a repeat of what he told Congress in 2017: that the First Amendment prevents the agency from launching investigations or retaliating against media companies based on their content.”

CA: COMPLAINT PAYBACK. LAT. “A Newport Beach activist who prevailed in a lawsuit filed by residents and supported by Councilman Jeff Herdman is following up with a complaint to the state alleging Herdman omitted required identifying language in his email newsletters.”

CA: ONLINE DISCLAIMERS (OR NOT). GUA. “The public deserves to know who is behind the political advertisements they receive.”

NY: REFORM STRUGGLE. WXXI. “A push to enact a statewide system of public campaign finance for political races appears to be floundering in New York.”

OR: REFORM CROSSHAIRS. MT. “In Oregon, campaign finance reform requires more than changing state law. That’s because of legal precedent set by the Oregon Supreme Court in 1997, when justices struck down limits on campaign contributions as violating Oregon’s constitutional right to free speech.”

TX: MONEY SOURCE. HC. “From Jan. 2017 through mid-Oct. 2018, the congressman from El Paso raised roughly $61.6 million in individual campaign donations (according to data from the Federal Election Commission).”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

CERT DENIED. DMR. “The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of the felony convictions of three top staffers on Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign.”

MONEY CHASE. NYT. “Beto O’Rourke raised more than $6 million online in the first 24 hours after announcing his presidential campaign last week, according to his campaign, outpacing his rivals for the Democratic nomination and making an emphatic statement about his grass-roots financial strength.”

ELECTION LAW NEWS. Wiley Rein’s March 2019 Election Law News is online.

KY: FORMER LOBBYIST FINED. KY. “A former Kentucky lobbyist convicted of bribing a state official to try to get work for clients has agreed to pay $15,000 to settle separate allegations of violating ethics rules.”

MD: PUBLIC FINANCING VOTE. BS. “The council will consider his bill today to create a system that could give county candidates access to public funds if it’s approved by voters in a referendum.”

NC: EX-LAWMAKER INDICTED. NO. “State Board of Elections investigators disclosed evidence in October they said showed Moore’s committee failed to report over $140,000 in campaign contributions and expenditures over several years. They also said it appeared the campaign provided altered bank records when the board requested them.”

OR: TRYING TO SQUEEZE. PT. “Lawmakers from both parties have proposed wide-ranging reforms that could transform the way election campaigns are conducted in Oregon.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.