In the News
Cato Institute: Even Little Platoons Have First Amendment Rights
By Ilya ShapiroNathan Worley and three friends hold a weekly political discussion group in their hometown of Sarasota, Florida. In 2010, a ballot initiative for a proposed amendment to the Florida constitution prompted the group to pull together $600 and exercise their First Amendment rights. They soon found, however, that doing so wasn’t going to be quite so easy.Under Florida’s campaign finance law, it’s illegal for two or more people to join together and spend more than $500 supporting or opposing a state ballot issue. Instead, the state forces even small groups like Worley’s to register and speak through a political committee, which is then subject to a vast catalog of vague, inscrutable regulations that are enforced by thousands of dollars in fines. To speak publicly about the ballot issue, Worley’s informal coterie would have to hire a specialized lawyer and accountant and include “disclosures” in their planned radio ads that would take up about 20 percent of the airtime.
CCP
Brief Urges Supreme Court to Review Florida PAC Regulations
Under Florida law, individuals cannot speak out in this way unless they form a political committee—a separate entity which must, among other things, organize, register with the state, name a treasurer, submit to random audits, file detailed reports at regular intervals, and comply with various other burdens. Worley and his friends found the red tape too much to untangle in order to run a few simple radio ads in his community.Worley has appealed a decision by the Eleventh Circuit to convert the as-applied challenged to Florida’s PAC registration and reporting requirements into a facial challenge of the law based upon a hypothetical question asked at oral argument. By converting the as-applied challenge into a facial challenge, the Court unfairly shifted the burden of demonstrating that the burdens of Florida’s PAC laws are unconstitutional in all possible cases to the plaintiff, Mr. Worley.“That an appellate court may simply transform a case from a narrow, as-applied challenge into a facial attack is very troubling, especially since the Eleventh Circuit did so without any reference to the record before it,” CCP Legal Director Allen Dickerson said. “The Worley plaintiffs spent a good deal of time developing that record. It should not have been set aside on the basis of a foundationless hypothetical.”
Independent Groups
Capitol New York: A Republican super PAC requests Cuomo’s Moreland records
By Reid Pillifant
“These reports indicate Governor Cuomo and his top aides have intervened in the affairs of an independent board to protect his political donors and advance the interests of his party, while launching partisan investigations against his opponents,” writes Tim Miller, the executive director of America Rising, in the FOIL request. “This would be a gross violation of the public trust.”America Rising specializes in opposition research, and was conceived in part as an answer to Democratic groups like American Bridge, which helped derail Todd Akin’s Senate bid in Missouri, and repeatedly dinged Mitt Romney during the presidential election.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
Great Falls Tribune: Federal judge, elections cop drop hammer on ATP
By John S. AdamsOn Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the state commissioner of political practices over boxes of documents found in a Colorado meth house that detailed the inner workings of the group formerly knows as Western Tradition Partnership.Then on Wednesday, Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl issued a decision finding sufficient evidence to show that WTP violated Montana’s campaign practice laws in a 2010 Republican House primary race in Billings.
Disclosure
Roll Call: Real Secret at Tortilla Coast: Free Grub for Pols
By Kent CooperThe restaurant, a block away from congressional offices on Capitol Hill, serves as a regular watering hole, restaurant and meeting place for many members of Congress, their staff and guests. In each of the past three election cycles, House and national party campaign committees have paid bills totaling more than $200,000 at the restaurant.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
Star Tribune: Bachmann returns contributions from alleged Petters co-conspirator
By Kevin DiazU.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s congressional campaign committee is reporting $14,000 in payments to the bankruptcy trustee for Florida businessman Frank Vennes, an associate of convicted Twin Cities’ Ponzi schemer Tom Petters.Vennes, a longtime evangelical supporter of Bachmann, pleaded guilty earlier this year to fraudulently raising money from individuals and through hedge funds for investment in Petters’ company.
Roll Call: Members of Congress Keep Lawyers Busy
By Kent CooperAt any given time, it seems there are some members of Congress paying lawyers to defend questions about their activities or handle legal and financial issues regarding their campaign funds. The third quarter saw the following examples.
Lobbying and Ethics
The Hill: Uber hires first DC lobbying firm
By Brendan SassoThe firm has assigned five lobbyists, all former Capitol Hill staffers, to the account.The hire is Uber’s latest step toward getting involved in national politics. The company became a member of the Internet Association, a lobbying group for Internet companies, last month.
State and Local
Virginia –– Washington Post: Va. Gov. Robert McDonnell set back by federal appeals court ruling on e-mails
By Rosalind S. Helderman and Carol D. LeonnigThe ruling is a blow to the governor, the two people said, because it allows prosecutors to use e-mails they consider significant evidence as they investigate whether McDonnell improperly used his office to help a generous patron.The robust fight over the e-mails, written by McDonnell counsel Jasen Eige, signals their importance in a potential case against the governor.
Washington –– The Seattle Times: Attorney General sues grocery association, alleging campaign-finance violations
By Jim Brunner
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit today against the Grocery Manufacturers Association, alleging the group illegally collected and spent more than $7 million to oppose Initiative 522, the measure requiring labeling of genetically modified foods.Ferguson’s lawsuit, filed in Thurston County Superior Court, said the Washington D.C.-based trade association solicited big money from its members specifically for the anti-GMO-labeling campaign, yet illegally concealed the identity of those donors from the public by failing to register and file reports as a political committee.
