[Political Activity Law]

CASE DISMISSED.   CDN.  “The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced Friday it dismissed a complaint from a liberal watchdog group alleging that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign had violated campaign laws by promoting his businesses and using campaign funds to pay for events at his Mar-A-Lago resort.”

CONWAY VIEW.   HILL.  “George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, said allegations that the Donald J. Trump Foundation may have violated campaign finance laws should be referred to the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.”

LOBBYIST REGISTRATION RULES.   WSJ.  “Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for Donald Trump, illegally engaged in secret lobbying, people familiar with the investigation said, as part of the government’s broader probe into Mr. Cohen’s business dealings.”

AL:  WARNINGS AND VIOLATIONS.   AL.  “Alabama’s new campaign finance law seem to be giving some candidates trouble.”

CO:  THROWN FOR A LOOP.   DP.  “Just as primary campaigns wrap up and the general election homestretch begins, the District of Colorado federal court threw the state political class for a major loop.”

GA:  CONDO PURCHASE.   GT.  “Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle bought a condo in downtown Atlanta a decade ago from a well-connected energy lobbyist who owned the unit next door.”

MD:  SELF-FINANCER POURS.   WP.  “David Trone, the millionaire businessman, has pumped another $5 million of his own money into his campaign to succeed Rep. John Delaney in Maryland, and has twice the amount of cash as his nearest rival to spend in the two weeks before the Democratic primary, campaign finance reports show.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

AZ:  MONEY MOVE.   EAC.  “Republican Vernon Parker said last Wednesday he supports an initiative to outlaw ‘dark money’ in political campaigns because he knows what it’s like to be the victim of it.”

CA:  SECOND COMMISSIONER LEAVES.  SB.  “Commissioner Maria Audero, a Los Angeles employment law attorney, left the agency more than seven months before the conclusion of her term to assume a new role as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Central District of California.”

CO:  PART UNCONSTITUTIONAL.   USN.  “A federal judge has thrown out Colorado‘s voter-approved system for enforcing campaign finance violations.”

NM:  TAXPAYERS PAY.   USN.  ” New Mexico taxpayers will cover up to $133,000 in legal fees in a dispute between state campaign finance regulators and the gubernatorial campaign of Rep. Steve Pearce under a settlement agreement.”

OH:  CLAIMS AGAINST GROUP.   CL.  “A political watchdog organization is accusing a Dayton-based dark-money group of violating federal tax and campaign-finance law by undercounting the amount it spent on anti-Democrat attack ads.”

TX:  CALL FOR REFORM.  SAE.  “Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has called on the state Legislature to reform Texas campaign finance laws during the 2019 legislative session.”

TX:  GROUP DRAWS COMPLAINT.   TT.  “Slick videos on the Indie Party website promote independent candidates as the solution to politics as usual, and the party offers a high-tech innovation: a crypto-currency called Indie Tokens that volunteers can earn and sell to donors and that can be used to buy campaign merchandise or political services from vendors, lawyers and pollsters.”

WA:  PANEL FINED.  TC.  “The Clark County Republican Central Committee will pay $74,725 as a result of a complaint made by the Washington Attorney General’s office for failing to report campaign contributions in a timely manner.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

FARA OPINIONS RELEASED.   DOJ.  “The FARA Registration Unit has issued 49 advisory opinions since January 1, 2010, which are being posted on the FARA.gov website together with three other letters sent in response to requests for general information.”

OPINION ANNOUNCED.   FEC.  “The United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (16-0752), granting the Commission’s and Intervenor-Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment and denying the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court concluded that the Commission’s dismissals of the administrative complaints at issue was not contrary to law.”

PARTIES ACCUSED.   NYP.  “Up to 40 state Democratic parties could be implicated in an alleged scheme to illegally funnel some $84 million to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to a new report.”

SPENDING CONTINUES.   HP.  “Seven current or former members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet have spent almost $450,000 in political campaign funds since being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, according to Federal Election Commission records.”

AR:  PLEA DEAL.   AO.  “A $1 million state grant went to lobbyist Milton ‘Rusty’ Cranford’s biggest client in 2013. The same year the legislator behind the grant, then-state Sen. Jon Woods, got to watch the St. Louis Cardinals play in the World Series compliments of that client.”

IL:  USE OF FUNDS.   DJ.  “Through her campaign account, state Sen. Toi Hutchinson has paid herself a salary and part of the rent for an apartment in downtown Springfield.”

IL:  PACS PICK.   DD.  “Political action committees have created huge funding disparities in local state House campaigns.”

MT:  EXECUTIVE ORDER.   MTPR.  “Governor Steve Bullock signed an executive order today aimed at reforming dark money campaign contributions.”

NY:  ILLEGAL DEAL.    ATU.  “A fundraising agreement between a statewide third party and the state Senate’s now-defunct Independent Democratic Conference has been deemed invalid by a state Supreme Court justice.”

TX:  DISCLOSURE NO BRAINER.   MSA.  “The public has a right to easily know sources of support for candidates. It can be telling if a particular industry — real estate developers, medical professionals, attorneys, public safety workers, etc. — has shown significant support for a candidate. That support could be viewed, rightfully, as influence.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.