In the News
89.3 KPCC “Airtalk”: Mike Bloomberg Has Dropped. What Can He Do With His Never Ending Resources?
Featuring Larry Mantle and Bradley A. Smith
Today on AirTalk, Larry talks with a campaign finance law expert about how former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg can channel his seemingly never ending resources to continue supporting his cause: remove Trump from office.
Guest: Bradley Smith, expert in election law and campaign finance; professor of law at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio; he’s currently the chairman of the Institute for Free Speech, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. that promotes and defends First Amendment free speech rights; he served on the Federal Election Commission (2000-2005) and was chairman of the Commission in 2004; he tweets @CommishSmith.
Roll Call: FEC pick sparks backlash from Democrats
By Kate Ackley
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who recently suspended her presidential campaign, said Wednesday that she opposes the nomination of Texas lawyer James “Trey” Trainor III [to the Federal Election Commission]. He would replace former Republican Commissioner Matthew Petersen, whose departure last summer left the commission with just three commissioners…
[F]ormer FEC commissioner, Republican Bradley A. Smith, praised Trainor as “a well-qualified practitioner.” Smith chairs the conservative Institute for Free Speech, which has called for a fresh slate of six commissioners.
Bleeding Heartland: Four red flags about Iowa Supreme Court applicant Sam Langholz
By Laura Belin
The Washington-based Institute for Free Speech took an interest in my credentialing problems and commissioned a memo about my situation by Robert Corn-Revere and Chelsea T. Kelly of the Davis, Wright, Tremaine law firm. Corn-Revere is a nationally renowned First Amendment lawyer who successfully represented Iowa State University students in a free speech case a few years ago.
The memo cited numerous court rulings and argued, “it appears clear that Ms. Belin should receive the same access and accommodations to the Legislature or the governor as traditional journalists.” …
Institute for Free Speech president David Keating sent copies of the memo to Iowa legislative leaders, Reynolds, and the governor’s chief of staff Sara Craig Gongol in April 2019. Through a public records request this year, I obtained copies of Keating’s one-sided correspondence with the governor’s office (enclosed below as Appendix 3).
New from the Institute for Free Speech
President Trump Nominates Trey Trainor to FEC
The Institute for Free Speech released the following statement in response to today’s announcement that President Donald Trump has re-nominated attorney Trey Trainor to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The six-member FEC has lacked a quorum since September 1 due to three vacancies.
“I commend President Trump for moving to fill a vacancy at the Commission. Trey Trainor is a well-qualified practitioner, and the Senate should act quickly on his nomination. The FEC needs a quorum so it can advise speakers on how to comply with our insanely complex campaign finance laws,” said Institute for Free Speech Chair Bradley A. Smith…
The Institute for Free Speech has long called for a fresh slate of commissioners at the FEC. Its three remaining commissioners have all served for years past their original terms. Nominating new commissioners would help the FEC take action on long-pending matters, such as a rulemaking clarifying disclaimer requirements for online ads.
The Courts
Politico: Grewal agrees to kill ‘dark money’ law
By Ryan Hutchins
New Jersey’s controversial new “dark money” disclosure law is effectively dead after Attorney General Gurbir Grewal agreed to a permanent injunction in order to settle several lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the requirements.
While settlement agreements were reached in just two of three lawsuits, the deal not to enforce the disclosure rules will apply broadly and Grewal said his office hopes to settle the remaining case soon…
Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex) and Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington), the sponsors of the dark money law, say they’re working on a new version of the law and believe the attorney general’s decision “brings closure to the lawsuits that had kept us in limbo for too long.” …
Independent spending now dominates politics in New Jersey. Much of it comes from super PACs, which disclose their donors. But spending by nonprofit organizations has grown in recent years, fueling concern over secrecy. Super PACs are sometimes funded completely or in part by nonprofits, making the ultimate source of their money untraceable.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Election funding law’s hold to resume
By Linda Satter
An order blocking the state from enforcing a law that prohibits campaign contributions more than two years before an election was reinstated Tuesday.
In June, U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. issued a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of Arkansas Code 7-6-203(e), in response to a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
The law, which applies to contributions for candidates for state office, has been in effect since 1996, when voters approved it as part of a package of amendments to campaign-finance laws. The amendments were aimed at combating corruption, but a Pulaski County woman, Peggy Jones, said it went too far and infringes on her right of political expression…
“Today’s a happy day,” attorney Christoph Keller said Tuesday. “This allows our client and other Arkansans to exercise their First Amendment rights.”
MediaPost: Tulsi Gabbard Loses First Amendment Lawsuit Against Google
By Wendy Davis
Siding with Google, a federal judge has thrown out Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard’s free-speech lawsuit against the tech company over a brief suspension of her advertising account.
In a decision issued Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson in the Central District of California ruled that Gabbard, a House member from Hawaii, has no valid claim that Google violated the First Amendment, given that Google is a private company…
He dismissed the complaint with prejudice, meaning that Gabbard can’t attempt to reformulate her claims and bring them again.
The decision stems from a lawsuit brought against Google last July by Gabbard’s campaign, which alleged that her Google Ads account was suspended for several hours on June 28 — two days after she participated in a debate with other Democratic hopefuls.
FEC
JD Supra: FEC Releases Guidance on Internet Activity for Political Committees Ahead of the 2020 Election
By Katherine Reynolds, Dickinson Wright
On March 3, the Federal Election Commission released updated guidance ahead of the 2020 election cycle on internet activity conducted by federal political committees. The guidance includes information on online fundraising and disclaimer requirements for specific internet activity.
PACs
JD Supra: Political Action Committees
By Jasper Cummings, Alston & Bird
It isn’t just the Federal Election Commission political action committees (PACs) need to worry about. Our Federal Tax Group examines the tax pitfalls for tax-exempt organizations and one worrisome IRS ruling in particular.
The layers of PAC regulation…
The most important tax variable…
A surprising IRS ruling against a hospital charity…
Media
Washington Post: Campaign coverage restrictions end at Bloomberg News
By David Bauder, Associated Press
It’s back to normal for political reporters at Bloomberg News now that company founder Mike Bloomberg has dropped out of the presidential race.
John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief at Bloomberg News, disclosed that in a memo to his staff on Wednesday. He said the company would follow the same rules for coverage of President Donald Trump and the remaining Democrats who are challenging him.
Free Expression
Washington Post: If the Trump administration wants to pressure Iran, it should support filmmakers
By Sonny Bunch
The Iranian regime is a rickety rogue state propped up by aging mullahs whose economic system is in shambles and whose populace is being ravaged by the coronavirus. If Americans want to pressure or even topple one of the country’s key enemies in the Middle East, we have no better allies than internal dissidents, among them Iran’s filmmakers. The United States should do everything it can to support those who are speaking out against the repressive regime…
Iranian filmmakers have grown bolder as the world’s attention has turned to the oppression of the Iranian people. Mohammad Rasoulof, for instance, last week won the Berlin Film Festival’s highest honor – an award, the New York Times notes, he could not receive in person because he had been banned from leaving Iran by the Iranian regime and faces a year in prison for “spreading propaganda.” Jafar Panahi was imprisoned for his support of the 2009 Green Movement that pushed for the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president. He has been banned from making movies in his own country and relied on European festivals to get his work to a wider audience.
Online Speech Platforms
Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Will the First Amendment Kill Free Speech in America?
By Stewart Baker
This episode features a lively (and – fair warning – long) interview with Daphne Keller, Director of the Program on Platform Regulation at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center. We explore themes from her recent paper on regulation of online speech. It turns out that more or less everyone has an ability to restrict users’ speech online, and pretty much no one has both authority and an interest in fostering free-speech values. The ironies abound: Conservatives may be discriminated against, but so are Black Lives Matter activists. In fact, it looks to me as though any group that doesn’t think it’s the victim of biased content moderation would be well advised to scream as loudly as possible about censorship anyway for fear of losing the victimization sweepstakes.
Candidates and Campaigns
Wall Street Journal: Bloomberg’s Contribution
By Editorial Board
Michael Bloomberg is being widely mocked for spending more than $500 million to run for President and winning… American Samoa…
The billionaire’s biggest contribution may be in exposing in spectacular fashion the canard that money can buy the Presidency. No candidate ever spent more money more quickly, and he was able to make himself a contender. But the money and ads were no substitute for a message that better motivated followers and resonated with voters.
He and Tom Steyer, the other billionaire candidate, have done more to show the folly and hypocrisy of campaign-finance regulation than anything we could ever write.
The States
FlaPol: House votes to end public campaign finance for statewide candidates
By A.G. Gancarski
The House approved by a 100-15 margin Wednesday a Constitutional amendment that seeks to end the public campaign-financing system available to political candidates.
The current system allows candidates for statewide office to receive public matching dollars for individual contributions of $250 or less.
Rep. Vance Aloupis bill (HJR 1325) seeks “the repeal of the provision in the State Constitution which requires public financing of campaigns of candidates for elective statewide office who agree to campaign spending limits.” …
Aloupis noted that legislation had gone back to 1986 for matching funds. A trust fund was exhausted by 1996, requiring the amendment … which got just 52.5% last time voters considered it.
New York Daily News: Train of thought: The MTA fails to enforce its bad ban on political ads
By Daily News Editorial Board
The city Transit Authority’s policy prohibiting all political and message ads – a blanket ban that debuted back in 2015 because the folks who run the TA didn’t want to allow an overheated ad against radical Islamic ideology – just went from stupid to downright brain-dead.
