In the News

Dayton Daily News: Should voters know more about where undisclosed political money comes from?

By Laura A. Bischoff

The Citizens United case was a victory for free speech, according to the Institute for Free Speech, a Washington D.C.-based group.

Fears of corruption are misplaced and most political spending is done by candidates, parties and political action committees, according to Bradley A. Smith, the institute’s founder and chairman and a former Federal Elections Commission commissioner.

Since the Citizens United ruling, the nonprofit groups that don’t have to disclose their donors have usually accounted for about 3% to 5% of total campaign spending, Smith said in a September column.

“Though their role in elections remains a minor one, nonprofits bring valuable perspectives and information to voters,” Smith wrote. “Instead of demonizing dark money, we should welcome more speakers and more speech in campaigns.” …

“The Householder case is getting national attention. I think it will help increase support for disclosure,” [Ian Vandewalker, senior counsel for the democracy program at The Brennan Center], said. He added, “It’s a bit of a double edge sword because the allegations are so egregious that the political status quo will say that it was bribery and bribery is already illegal, so we don’t have to do anything here.”

Congress

Politico: McMorris Rodgers’ top tech target for next Congress: Section 230

By Cristiano Lima

The newly elected GOP lead of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said in an interview Thursday that the No. 1 item on House Republicans’ tech agenda for next Congress will be to take aim at the online industry’s liability shield, Section 230.

“At the top of the list for the Republicans is holding big tech accountable and addressing Section 230, because it is unacceptable, it’s un-American what happened during the election, where they were censoring political speech in the name of misinformation,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) told POLITICO…

In her pitch this week to the House Republican Steering Committee to land the ranking member spot, McMorris Rodgers highlighted her plan…

“We need to stop Big Tech and the woke mob from silencing us, ” she told the steering panel during the presentation, according to an aide. “I’ve already put [Rep.] Jan Schakowsky and Jack Dorsey on notice for Section 230. I plan to lead with every tool to protect free speech.”

The comments mark a dramatic escalation from McMorris Rodgers, who just over a year ago urged caution in targeting the protections for internet companies at hearing.

Independent Groups

Forbes: The Biggest Donor To A Pro-Kelly Loeffler Super-PAC? Her Husband.

By Michela Tindera

A super-PAC that raised $16.9 million to oppose one of Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler’s challengers in the November 3 special election in Georgia received nearly two-thirds of its money from one of the senator’s very, very close allies: her husband.

Online Speech Platforms

Center Square: The Sunday Read: Twitter blocks dozens of legitimate news stories, and isn’t saying why

By Chris Krug

As Twitter itself professes, “Twitter is what’s happening in the world and what people are talking about.”

That’s true – except when Twitter arbitrarily determines that it doesn’t want you to talk about something.

The team at The Center Square learned as much over the past 10 days, a period of time in which Twitter banned the inclusion of dozens of our original, straight news stories from across the country.

Our crime? Well, we’re not sure. But signs point to The Center Square having the audacity to break news.

Greg Bishop in our Illinois bureau, who has covered state government in Springfield for more than a decade, was the first journalist in the country to report that the state-sanctioned committee looking into the bribery scandal for which energy producer ComEd has pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges and agreed to pay a $200 million fine had released new documents pertinent to the investigation…

Within moments after the story was posted at TheCenterSquare.com, our team shared the story on Twitter. A moment later, the link was blocked by Twitter.

But here’s the grip: There was no problem with Bishop’s story. It was timely, again he was the first to report, and it was factual…
And Twitter killed it.

In the 10 days that followed Bishop’s story, Twitter blocked dozens of stories from The Center Square. On some days, it blocked everything. On others, Twitter selectively blocked our reporting from across the country.

Candidates and Campaigns

Roll Call: Gideon’s conundrum: What to do with all that extra money

By Kate Ackley

The failed Senate bid of Sara Gideon, the Maine Democrat who challenged Sen. Susan Collins, hauled in nearly $75 million and, after the election, still held an embarrassment of riches to rival even the biggest pile of Thanksgiving leftovers: $14.8 million…

Though numerous polls showed Gideon leading going into the election, Collins won comfortably, with 51 percent to Gideon’s 42 percent.
It is unusual for a losing candidate to have nearly $15 million left after the election, according to campaign finance experts. Gideon has several options for how to use the money.

“That is any extremely large amount of money to have left over after a campaign, but there is only so much money you can spend in a state like Maine given the number and size of its media markets,” said Democratic campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel…

Kappel and other political money experts said Gideon has options for her extra cash, including transferring an unlimited amount to Democratic Party committees. She can also make contributions to federal and state candidates, within the legal limits…

“This is a significant warchest that could be put to use for a future campaign or doled out to help other Democrats,” said Michael Beckel, research director of Issue One, a campaign finance overhaul group.

Bloomberg Government: Overstuffed Campaigns End Election With Plenty of Cash Leftovers

By Kenneth P. Doyle

ActBlue said Thursday it collected more in this election cycle than its previous 14-year total, with nearly 15 million donors giving an average of $38 to 22,000 Democratic candidates and organizations.

The money helped Joe Biden win the presidency and will “lay the groundwork for more organizing in the years to come,” ActBlue executive director Erin Hill said.

The States

Columbus Dispatch: Campus ‘free speech’ bill banning free-speech zones heads to Gov. Mike DeWine

By Jennifer Smola and Anna Staver

Public universities and colleges across Ohio won’t be able to say no to controversial speakers or ask groups sponsoring them to pay for security after once the governor signs a bill passed by the legislature…

Senate Bill 40 bans “free speech zones,” security fees for speakers and official warnings about potentially triggering content. Certain time, place and manner restrictions would be OK so long as school officials provided ample options based on “content-neutral criteria.” And students could be penalized for harassing event attendees under harassment policies that are are required for schools.

SB 40 also removed a section of Ohio code that lets schools block communist groups and those who advocate overthrowing the U.S. government. 

“I’m not a fan of communism – I’m against them – and I’m not even a fan of socialism, but they have a right to give free speech and that shouldn’t be infringed,” Brenner said earlier this year when the bill first passed the Ohio Senate. “There is a First Amendment for a reason.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Shedding light on ‘dark money’

By The Editorial Board

Pittsburgh City Council made the right move toward more transparency in campaign financing with its recent decision to track the organizations using so-called “dark money” in an attempt to influence local elections…

The city’s Ethics Hearing Board wanted the same financial reporting requirements placed on candidates to be enforced on independent groups. Candidates for city office must file financial disclosure reports on the first day of business of each month for three months leading up to an election. The bill, approved unanimously by City Council, now places the same requirement on independent groups…

Although the reporting requirement will not trace the individual sources of dark money, it does provide more transparency about groups such as political action committees that could be working on behalf of a candidate or particular ballot question.