In the News
MSNBC: Campaign finance activists try to explain Jeb Bush’s $130 million fail
Benjy Sarlin
“Bush’s failed campaign and Scott Walker’s and Chris Christie’s — I could go on — all indicate how overblown the complaints are about Citizens United,” Floyd Abrams, an attorney and commentator who’s defended Citizens United on free speech grounds, told MSNBC in an email.
“Has there ever been a better example than Jeb Bush of the fact that voters decide the outcome of elections, not money?” David Keating, president of the Center for Competitive Politics, said in a statement.
Acton Institute: Jeb Bush Proves Money Can’t Buy Elections
Bruce Edward Walker
The Center for Competitive Politics President David Keating summed it up neatly after Saturday’s primary results:
“Money can’t buy love, or votes…. Has there ever been a better example than Jeb Bush of the fact that voters decide the outcome of elections, not money? …While money is critical for getting a message out, it can’t convince people to cast a vote, make Americans like a candidate, or fix systemic issues within a campaign.”
If money buys votes, then Mr. Bush spent approximately $2,600 per vote to garner a sixth-place finish in Iowa and a fourth-place finish in New Hampshire. This, as any businessperson will tell you, is a pretty lousy ROI or return on investment.
CCP
Did Crossroads GPS “Bamboozle” the IRS?
Barnaby Zall
But The New York Times editorialized that the Appeals decision “bamboozled” the IRS and was “a farcical abuse of common sense and the American taxpayer.” Paul Streckfus, editor of the Exempt Organization Tax Journal, called the decision “the latest horror” and said that the IRS “is totally incapable of providing meaningful regulation of the [tax-exempt organization] sector.” Both assumed that Crossroads GPS was guilty.
Curiously, however, knowledgeable tax-exempt organization attorneys weren’t quite so sure. For example, Marc Owens, oft-quoted former predecessor to Lois Lerner as the head of IRS’s Exempt Organizations Division and no friend of Crossroads GPS, said “I can see why the Appeals people concluded there were hazards to litigation.” “Hazards to litigation” is a fancy way of saying the IRS would have faced a significant chance of not only losing any legal challenge Crossroads GPS could have brought, but that the IRS’s guidelines and regulations could have been significantly harmed by any such loss in court. That’s a core function of the Appeals process.
So, this was another example of an out-of-control IRS, but it was reined in by a new Appeals process, just as intended. The grant of the long-delayed tax exemption provides some hope that the IRS has turned a corner and can impartially review controversial applications.
Dangers of Disclosure
Politico: Mega-donors shy away from fight with Trump
Kenneth Vogel and Isaac Arnsdorf
GOP strategist Liz Mair, whose anti-Trump Make America Awesome super PAC has raised all of $10,000 since it was created in December, said major donors are shying away from her group partly because they are scared of incurring Trump’s wrath. He has already threatened legal action against conservative groups that have advertised against him, including the Club for Growth (which, he alleged in a Tuesday tweet “came to my office seeking $1 million dollars. I told them no and now they are doing negative ads)…
“We would totally donate to you if we could do it anonymously; we’re worried about Trump taking reprisals against us for donating to this,” Mair said, parroting reactions she’s heard from donors. “Suffice to say, there are a lot of people out there who want to stop Trump and are willing to donate to do it,” she said. “They’re just the rank and file of the base, not the establishment donors.”
National Review: Americans for Prosperity Defends Itself
Editorial Board
There is no mystery about why Harris is demanding the donor list. The Left has a long and nasty history of using not only protest and criticism but also harassment to beat private citizens into submission when their political actions displease Democrats. A few highlights worth remembering: The IRS illegally leaked the National Organization for Marriage’s donor list, in order to facilitate harassment of said donors by gay-marriage advocates; Brendan Eich, the founder of Mozilla, was chased out of the firm he started for having once held the same opinion on gay marriage as Barack Obama and then making a donation to further that view…
Independent Groups
Time: The Activist Nurse Union SuperPAC That Is Helping Bernie Sanders Stoke the Bern
Sam Frizell
Both DeMoro and Sanders reject outright any comparison between the nurse SuperPAC and the constellation of SuperPACs supporting Clinton. “It’s not a super PAC. It basically lacks the appropriate definition at the FEC,” she said. “It’s just our nurses. We don’t take outside money from anyone.” All the money spent in DeMoro’s group comes from nurses’ union dues, and Sanders does not help the union raise money. (Clinton’s campaign chair has met with prospective donors to her SuperPAC.) The nurses union was not set up and organized with the help of Sanders’ confidantes. (Clinton allies played a role in organizing her SuperPAC network, though part of it was already in place to support Barack Obama.) “Bernie doesn’t want a super PAC. He wouldn’t want us to be in a super PAC,” said DeMoro.
As a matter of law, however, there is little difference.
Influence
Daily Beast: Clinton Campaign Taken by Liam Neeson
Asawin Suebsaeng
Neeson’s ties to the Clintons don’t run as deep as those maintained by other celebrities, such as Katy Perry and Lena Dunham. (It was reported that both Bill Clinton and the 63-year-old actor would appear in The Hangover Part II, but alas neither ended up in the film.) Neeson’s political views tend to fit comfortably within the mainstream of the Democratic Party. In late 2014, he became another Hollywood star to attract the ire of the gun lobby.
Daily Beast: Killer Mike Is Bernie Sanders’s Unofficial Campaign Adviser
Asawin Suebsaeng
When rapper Killer Mike calls the Bernie Sanders campaign to pitch ideas or make suggestions, they pay attention, he says.
“I think more rappers need to endorse [Bernie Sanders],” Killer Mike told The Daily Beast. “I’ll suggest some rappers who are incredibly brilliant…and I’ll get those [phone] numbers and pass those onto [Sanders’s] press secretary. When it comes time to organize hardcore events on the ground that will mobilize the young black vote, I’ll reach out to the appropriate contact in the campaign.”
Western Journalism: Wow: ‘American Chopper’ Star Paul Teutul Has A Major Announcement About 2016 Race
Kevin Whitson
Paul Teutal Sr., patron star of the custom motorcycle reality TV show American Chopper, has endorsed Donald Trump for president. Teutal, who is best known for his profanity laced outbursts and his ability to craft custom motorcycles, said he met Trump years ago on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Later, Trump was a guest on Teutal’s show. In 2012, Trump visited Orange County Choppers, Teutal’s custom motorcycle shop, where the men collaborated on a Trump chopper–a custom motorcycle for Trump with “TRUMP” stamped in gold on the side of the block engine.
Supreme Court
More Soft Money Hard Law: Justice Scalia and Campaign Finance: A Puzzle (Part II)
Bob Bauer
Two other aspects of Scalia’s resistance to reform-of-the-reform underscore his suspicion that second-generation reform had gotten—and tends to get—out of hand, resulting in the “loss of all sense of proportion.” Just as he objected to the expanded role for the courts in FOIA litigation, so, too, did he object to ability of any citizen to compel the Federal Election Commission to account to the courts for its enforcement decisions And he also found that the inevitable result of reform-of-reform was complexity, beyond even his comprehension.” But what of the Justice’s comment in McConnell that Buckley, which he had characterized in Austin as “correctly decided,” was somehow now “wrongly decided.” Or of his joining in Justice Thomas’ dissent from the Court’s decision in Beaumont v. FEC, which sustained the prohibition on corporate contributions directly to candidates? In that case, Thomas stood firmly for overruling Buckley.
The answer is not obvious.
Pillar of Law Institute: Without Justice Scalia, “Corruption” Cases May Get Hazier
Stephen Klein
The question on appeal is whether anything Gov. McDonnell did in return for the gifts constitutes an “official act” for purposes of public corruption or bribery (which is required to support wire fraud charges) and, if so, whether the definition is constitutional. One might, on the basis of the facts, say “of course!” Indeed, it is bewildering to think Jonnie Williams could keep giving gifts to McDonnell over the course of several years if he was not promised something official. But this is a shot from the hip. Even the most damning actions the Fourth Circuit discusses in its ruling detail Governor McDonnell basically serving as an undisclosed lobbyist for Williams. He spoke highly of the product, frequently recommended it for a study, but did not order anyone (it’s not even clear he could order anyone) to take action. Allowing convictions on this basis could have serious effects on basic politicking which, hyperbole notwithstanding, is not a verb synonymous with corruption. The First Amendment does not protect bribery, but it protects from definitions of bribery that threaten legitimate political engagement—even shady arrangements that include dinners, parties and access for favored people.
Candidates and Campaigns
New York Times: Donald Trump in New York: Deep Roots, but Little Influence
Susanne Craig and David W. Chen
Mr. Trump, and entities affiliated with him, used to reliably donate to local Democrats and Republicans in New York — more than $700,000 to state candidates and $140,000 to city candidates since 1980, records indicate…
However, Mr. Trump could appear naïve about the mechanics of campaign finance. In 1996, eager to support Rudolph W. Giuliani’s re-election bid as mayor, he enclosed two checks totaling $6,900 in a letter addressed to the Republican mayor and mailed to City Hall. The money was later returned, according to Mr. Giuliani’s public archives.
CPI: Can you sell marijuana pipes to help fund Bernie Sanders?
Michael Beckel
The 29-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon, is marketing homemade ceramic pipes emblazoned with decals of Sanders’ head and campaign logo.
Her pro-Sanders “smoking ware” — targeted at the “Burners for Bernie” set — sells for $60 apiece. And she advertises that 10 percent of her proceeds will benefit the self-described socialist from Vermont who has emerged as an unexpectedly serious challenger to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination…
“You can’t promise to pass the money along to the candidate,” said Joe Birkenstock, an attorney at Sandler Reiff who previously served as the chief counsel of the Democratic National Committee.
Vanity Fair: Campaign-Finance Crusader Lawrence Lessig Thinks We Have a Lot to Learn from Donald Trump
Tina Nguyen
Harvard law professor and political activist Lawrence Lessig declared his unlikely candidacy for president, last summer, on a single-issue platform: campaign-finance reform. He was forced to drop out before the second Democratic debate and has since been overtaken by his better-known (and, to be sure, better-financed) competitors. But that doesn’t mean he is done agitating, especially since the American public has caught on with his anti–Citizens United v. F.E.C. message. Here he expresses his admiration for Donald Trump, frustration with Bernie Sanders, and speculation on the future of both parties.
The States
Wall Street Journal: Watchdog Seeks Probe of Group Tied to Mayor Bill de Blasio
Josh Dawsey
Mr. de Blasio’s Progressive Agenda Committee has been funded by contributions from the Campaign for One New York. That group has declined to disclose its donors, but a spokeswoman said they would be provided later this year.
Mr. de Blasio further argued that he believed in reversing the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which allowed more outside money in politics but that he was using the law different than other donors. “The aspirations were to undermine, in many cases, the democratic process, and work against the needs and interests of the people. The issues at hand here are campaigns fighting for more affordable housing, campaigns that fight for pre-K for all. I mean, this is an entirely different construct,” he said.
Maine News Online: Maine’s public campaign finance system could run out of money
Julia Hawkins
Maine’s public campaign finance system could run out of money as state lawmakers have repeatedly raided the fund to use the money for some other purposes, the state’s ethics commission’s executive director Jonathan Wayne said.
On Tuesday, Wayne told the state Legislature’s budget writing committee that lawmakers have withdrawn around $12 million from the Maine Clean Elections fund since the year of 2002. The figure includes$3.4 million withdrawn through the financial year that ended in June last year.
Wayne added that the Legislature had returned $5.6 million to the voter-approved program, but that was not enough to offset the decline in funds.
Fairfield Sun Times: Motl Targets New Area For Speech Control: The Courtroom
Will Swaim
Motl made the Feb. 12 request for sanctions in a Rule 11 filing. In it, Motl “respectfully requests that the Court preclude Wittich from inquiring into any matters related to personal animosity, bias, selective enforcement of other improper motive on the part of COPP Jonathan Motl.”
Legal observers say such motions are unusual.
“It’s like dropping a nuclear bomb in the middle of your case,” said Cynthia Ford, a law professor at the University of Montana. Another attorney called such requests “rare, dramatic and controversial.”
