[Political Activity Law]

TRUMP AHEAD. USN. “Riding a powerful wave of small dollar donations, President Trump’s principal campaign committee pulled in more than$6.9 million in the final quarter of 2018, per its report to the Federal Election Commission. A little under $5.1 million, or 75 percent, of that money came in the form of donations under $200, an indication of grassroots support.”

LOAN SOUGHT. CNBC. ” Deutsche Bank, which has a business relationship with President Donald Trump that’s spanned years, refused to give the candidate a loan during his 2016 presidential campaign in 2016, The New York Times reported on Saturday.”

CAMPAIGN OWES. HILL. “The Trump campaign owes the Treasury Department over $1 million in travel expenses, according to a new filing released by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Thursday.”

MOVE ON CORPORATE PAC MONEY. NPR. “This early in the 2020 presidential campaign, the candidates have choices to make. One of them is how to raise their money. Here’s a place where the Democratic contenders all agree. They are not going to accept cash from corporate political action committees. NPR’s Peter Overby reports.”

KS: THANKS FAM. OH. “Marshall said his parents are very encouraging and two of the four Marshall children have given their blessing for a Senate race. The other two, he said, are not opposed to it.”

MS: SIDESTEP. CL. “Mississippi lieutenant governor candidate Jay Hughes filed a campaign finance report Thursday that appeared to violate a reform law he pushed for two years ago.”

MO: MAYOR FINED. STL. “State ethics officials have fined the former mayor of Cool Valley $10,380 for violating state campaign law during his unsuccessful run for a seat in the Missouri House last year.”

TX: CORPORATE GIVING. DN. “Another Dallas City Council member appears to be sideways with campaign-finance laws.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

TRUMP CA$H. WSAU. “U.S. President Donald Trump began the year with $19.2 million in campaign cash, a war chest that gives him a head start on Democrats lining up for the chance to run against the Republican in the 2020 White House race.”

WYDEN-TESTER BILL. KTVZ. “Sens. Ron Wyden and Jon Tester on Thursday reintroduced the Spotlight Act, a bill they said would shine a light on dark money political donors and hold the Trump Administration accountable to enforce our nation’s campaign finance laws.”

AL: REPORTS DUE. APR. “Elected officials, candidates, former candidates and political action committees must file the annual report by 11:59 p.m, Secretary of State John Merrill said Wednesday.”

FL: NO LIMIT. SS. “It’s not uncommon for one wealthy corporation or individual to skirt the maximum allowed donation by donating through multiple corporate entities. “

RI: STOP STEALING. PRI. “A Rhode Island senator has introduced legislation designed to close a loophole in state law that allows politicians convicted of stealing from their campaign accounts to pay restitution to their own political fund.”

SD: WHAT HAPPENED. AL. “Former Gov. Dennis Daugaard left office this month with more than $730,000 in his campaign account, and he said Wednesday he has no specific plans for how to spend the money.”

UT: PROPOSAL PASSED. TS. “The Utah House has passed a plan to allow candidates running for office to pay for child care with campaign funds.”

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HAVE A GOOD DAY.

PAC BUY. BB. “President Donald Trump’s Super PAC America First Policies has launched a seven-figure ad buy targeting several top Democrats in Congress with a message from Angel Mom Michelle Root, whose daughter Sarah was murdered by an illegal alien in 2016.”

CO: FOUNDATION NAMED. WFB. “A complaint filed in Colorado is asking the newly elected Democratic secretary of state to investigate a donation from the Sergey Brin Family Foundation to one of the state’s leading liberal organizations, ProgressNow Colorado.”

CO:  THORNY MONEY. USN. “A series of campaign finance complaints, first reported by Complete Colorado, allege that the charitable foundation of Google co-founder Sergey Brin contributed $170,000 to a nonprofit progressive issue committee called ProgressNow that was fighting an effort to increase the amount of Colorado land available for oil and gas drilling.”

NY: LOOPHOLE RAKE. SYR. “Gov. Andrew Cuomo took at least $16.7 million in campaign contributions from limited liability companies before the state stopped them from abusing a loophole in campaign finance laws, according to a Syracuse.com analysis of campaign records.”

VA: PUSH FAIL. HSV. “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposal to put new limits on campaign contributions is finding little love in the General Assembly.”

WY: INVESTIGATION COMPLETE. WN. “Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe has completed an investigation into an alleged violation of Wyoming Campaign Finance Law, filed by current and former members of the Rock Springs City Council against the unnamed authors, who were found to be employees of the City of Rock Springs.”

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CAN: MEDIA FINED. WP. “The recent plight of the Rebel News Network at the hands of the government of Alberta reminds us that when it comes to free speech, the government is often less interested in censoring the message than in controlling the medium.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.