CCP
Senate Hearing Underscores Reasons for Caution in Campaign Finance Enforcement
By Eric WangIf there is anything to be gained from yesterday’s proceedings, hopefully it is a recognition by Sen. Whitehouse that the “Current Issues in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement” are not as black-and-white as he believed going into the hearing.
Candidates, Politicians and Parties
CPI: McCain campaign reels in riches from 2008 legal fund
State and Local
Arizona –– AP: Arizona Legislature backs campaign finance changes
CPI: McCain campaign reels in riches from 2008 legal fund
By Dave LevinthalBut the McCain-Palin Compliance Fund was supposed to raise private dollars to pay for legal and accounting costs associated with McCain complying with presidential campaign finance rules.It now will ostensibly fuel a Senate re-election bid, which would next come in 2016 for the 76-year-old senator.
NY Times: F.B.I. Looking Into Allegations That McConnell’s Campaign Was Wiretapped
By SARAH WHEATON“They were bugging our headquarters, quite a Nixonian move,” Mr. McConnell said Tuesday at a news conference. “This is what you get from the political left in America these days.”
NPR: Senate Committee: Campaign Finance Laws Aren’t Enforced
By PETER OVERBYSENATOR TED CRUZ: I think we should all be concerned about those who are elected to office and immediately want to prevent anyone from speaking and being engaged in the political process or saying something they don’t like.
State and Local
Arizona –– AP: Arizona Legislature backs campaign finance changes
By Cristina SilvaThe Arizona Senate passed in a 17-13 vote Tuesday a bill seeking to increase the amount of money individuals and political committees may give to a privately funded candidate. The House approved the legislation in a 32-23 vote in February.
Florida –– Miami Herald: Ethics v. campaign finance: Is it showdown time?
Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, acknowledges there’s a tit-for-tat trade off here. “They keep telling me there’s going to be no ethics bill until there’s a campaign finance bill,” he said.
Maryland –– Baltimore City Paper: LLC loophole closed in campaign finance bill
By EDWARD ERICSON JR.For example, a part of the bill that would have indexed the maximum allowable donation to inflation—so it could increase automatically—was amended out of the bill.
Virginia –– Washington Post: New documents raise more questions about financing of McDonnell’s daughter’s wedding
By Rosalind S. HeldermanVirginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has said his daughter and her husband paid for their own wedding. So a $15,000 check from a major campaign donor to pay for the food at the affair was a gift to the bride and groom and not to him and therefore did not have to be publicly disclosed under the law, the governor says.But documents obtained by The Washington Post show that McDonnell signed the catering contract, making him financially responsible for the 2011 event. The governor made handwritten notes to the caterer in the margins. In addition, the governor paid nearly $8,000 in deposits for the catering.
