[Political Activity Law]

VIRAL VIDEO ERRORS. TB. “NowThis News conveniently cut a response from Brad Smith, chairman for the Institute for Free Speech, where he was asked by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) to correct Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘misleading questioning.'”

GILLIBRAND COMPLAINT. TH. “During Trump’s second State of the Union speech last Tuesday, Gillibrand’s Twitter account posted a message asking followers to ‘chip in $5 so we can put an end to this.’ It included official House video footage of a joint session of the United States Congress. FACT cited federal law and Senate ethics rules that both prohibit the use of taxpayer-funded resources that cannot be used for campaign or other political purposes to include ‘broadcast coverage and recordings of the House floor proceedings.'”

SCHULTZ ACCUSED. HP. “A liberal super PAC is ramping up efforts to thwart former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s presidential campaign before it even starts, and is issuing a formal complaint to the Federal Election Commission alleging that Schultz might be ‘attempting to exploit’ federal election law.”

CORPORATE PAC PLEDGE. HILL. “Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is rebuffing campaign contributions from corporate political action committees a day after declaring her bid for the White House.”

KY: UPDATE REPORTING. DN. “It doesn’t do much good requiring candidates for elected office to report who gives them money if the state can’t process the filings in time.”

MA: MONEY MAN. CWM. “[Michael] Sullivan is the director of the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, which monitors and publicizes how candidates for office in Massachusetts raise and spend their campaign cash. He makes sure politicians follow the rules, and in some cases he has to set the rules.”

MI: ALLEGATIONS AGAINST GROUP. BMI. “Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the state Bureau of Elections have determined that a political group aligned with now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her campaign committee violated state campaign finance laws, Benson’s office announced Friday. The group agreed to pay a civil fine of $37,500 and dissolve within 60 days.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

LEGAL BILLS PAID. HILL. “President Trump’s campaign spent nearly $100,000 of donor money to a law firm representing Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, ABC News reported Friday.”

BODYGUARD PAID. CNBC. “A company owned by Keith Schiller, President Donald Trump’s former longtime bodyguard, has received $225,000 from the Republican National Committee for security consulting since he left his job as White House director of Oval Office operations in September 2017, according to interviews and newly released campaign filings.”

AOC VIRAL. MASH. “Maybe you’ve never heard of the H.R. 1 bill, but chances are you’ve seen the viral video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez playing what she’s called the ‘Corruption Game.'”

BAN INTRODUCED. SLO. “The Corporate Political Disclosure Act of 2019 would require publicly traded corporations to disclose political expenditures to their shareholders and to the general public through the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

CA: EASING ACCESS. CPR. “Californians can already access campaign finance records online for state and federal candidates. But those same records aren’t as easy to find for candidates in city and county races.”

CA: ALLEGATIONS FORWARDED. DE. “The Davis City Council has forwarded allegations that opponents of Measure L violated the Political Reform Act to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office and the state Fair Political Practices Commission for further review.”

IL: GROUPS READY. HR. “Two ‘dark money’ groups are stepping up to separately promote and attack the new governor’s agenda.”

NV: MONEY RAISED. NI. “The collected data offers a picture, though, of how the most powerful and well-connected industries in Nevada — gaming, energy and organized labor — contribute to campaigns and offers a glimpse at how legislative campaigns are funded and operate.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

ADJUSTED LIMITS ANNOUNCED. FEC. “The Federal Election Commission announced updated contribution limits that have been indexed for inflation and are effective for federal elections in 2019-2020.”

REMAINING ISSUES. CNBC. “Michael Cohen might be headed to prison, but federal prosecutors are continuing to investigate issues related to the campaign finance crimes that brought down the former personal lawyer and fixer for President Donald Trump.”

DOCUMENTS SOUGHT. CNN. “Democratic lawmakers pressed the National Rifle Association for more information around millions of dollars in donations the group funneled towards the campaigns of President Donald Trump and Republican congressional candidates in a letter to the NRA’s president Wednesday.”

CO: POSSIBLE VIOLATION. DP. “The Secretary of State’s Office announced Wednesday it will investigate a campaign finance complaint against the group that spearheaded last November’s unsuccessful ballot measure that would have reduced new oil and gas production in Colorado.”

IN: NO VIOLATIONS. FG. “The Indiana Election Commission says House Speaker Brian Bosma did not violate state laws when he used campaign funds to investigate a former intern who alleged they had a sexual encounter in the early 1990s.”

TX: FINED UNPAID. TM. “As of the most recent updating on Feb. 4, the agency’s delinquent filer list shows that 327 Texas officeholders and political candidates owe more than $1.3 million in fines for being lax on those financial statements.”

WI: LEADING REFORM. UM. “State Sen. Chris Larson, Democrat from Milwaukee, is taking the lead in the Wisconsin State Senate on the issue of campaign finance reform.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.