Event
Roskam to Host Panel on Protecting Free Speech
When: Wednesday September 21, 2:30-3:30
Where: US Capitol, HC-8
Across the country, in governors’ mansions, and on college campuses, an all-out assault is being waged on Americans’ fundamental right to free speech. From political officials who attempt to silence those with whom they disagree, to university professors, administrators and student groups that block young people from being exposed to the marketplace of ideas, our basic constitutional rights are being threatened like never before.
Given the current state of affairs, U.S. Representative Peter J. Roskam would like to invite you to attend a panel discussion at the U.S. Capitol about the need to defend free speech against current threats it faces on multiple levels.
In addition to Rep. Roskam, the panel includes Koch Industries General Counsel Mark Holden. Wall Street Journal Columnist Kim Strassel, and Center for Competitive Politics Chairman and Founder Bradley A. Smith. The panel will be moderated by WMAL Radio’s Chris Plante.
Congress
Washington Examiner: Reid: Funding deal stalled on campaign finance provision
Susan Ferrechio
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he is opposed by GOP efforts to attach a provision to the package that would block the Securities and Exchange Commission from forcing public corporations from disclosing campaign donations.
An aide to McConnell said the SEC language would be automatically carried over in the temporary spending bill lawmakers are hoping to pass, because the bill would extend the fiscal 2016 law. Reid’s demand would require a change in the current law…
The provision blocking the SEC was attached to fiscal 2016 spending legislation and expires on Sept. 30.
It is among other issues Democrats and Republicans continue to spar over in their effort to pass a bill before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and government funding runs out.
Media
Washington Post: Why campaign finance laws probably won’t stop Hannity and Lewandowski from helping Trump
Callum Borchers
So keep Brock’s agenda and try-it-all style in mind when I tell you that the latest effort by his American Democracy Legal Fund is to convince the Federal Election Commission to investigate Sean Hannity and Fox News’s parent company for alleged violations of campaign finance laws…
In a complaint filed with the FEC two days after the Times reported Hannity’s advisory role, Brock’s legal fund alleged that “Mr. Hannity may be using Fox News Channel resources to offer the Trump campaign ‘suggestions on strategy and messaging,’ which would be in violation of the federal prohibition on corporate campaign contributions.”
Though the complaint was filed more than three weeks ago, a Fox News Channel spokeswoman claimed the network was not aware of it.
The accusation by Brock’s group is politically motivated, to be sure, but it highlights a question raised repeatedly in the 2016 election by media observers in and out of the industry: At what point do the activities of media professionals cross the line to become illegal, in-kind corporate contributions?
Independent Groups
Washington Post: Hillary Clinton’s main super PAC has raised $132 million. A third came from six wealthy allies.
Matea Gold
The massive haul means the super PAC — which collected $79 million in 2012, when it was supporting the reelection of President Obama — has now amassed $132 million. It started September with $41.5 million in the bank.
The super PAC’s financial success is largely due to a small group of wealthy Clinton allies who have been regularly doling out seven-figure checks. Together, the top six donors as of last month have given Priorities $43.5 million — a third of the money collected by the super PAC, campaign finance reports show.
USA Today: Shaun McCutcheon says court victory renders super PAC obsolete
Mary Troyan
Shaun McCutcheon created the Conservative Action Fund out of frustration with the cap on how many checks he could write to candidates each election cycle. Now that he’s won his lawsuit, he said he’ll dismantle the PAC by the end of the year and fold it in with some other Tea Party-inspired PACs.
“Thanks to my own lawsuit, I don’t need a super PAC to do what I want to do,” McCutcheon said in a recent interview after attending a Virginia fundraiser for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Vermont Digger: State Democrats see cameraman as sign of GOP lawbreaking
Jasper Craven
In the complaint, party Executive Director Conor Casey alleges the close-up shots of Scott in the ads indicate the lieutenant governor must have been aware of the RGA crew. The ads also feature crisp audio of Scott speaking.
“The nature of the footage — up close shots of Mr. Scott — strongly suggests that the cameraman was allowed to remain in close proximity to Mr. Scott in order to obtain better quality images,” Casey wrote…
Brittney Wilson, Scott’s campaign spokeswoman, said there had been no coordination at all with the RGA.
“This is absurd, clearly a distraction,” Wilson said.
“All of our events we post on our website, and those are open to our supporters, and a lot of time we even see our opposition show up at our events and film Phil,” she said. “It’s not hard to figure out where Phil is going to be.”
IRS
The Hill: IRS chief: Don’t impeach me
Naomi Jagoda
Koskinen, who took office several months after the political-targeting scandal broke, said that he “directed IRS staff to cooperate fully with Congress and to recover lost information where possible, and I testified to the best of my knowledge.”
But he also acknowledged that some of his testimony later proved to be wrong and some information that Congress requested was not preserved.
“I regret both of those failings,” he said. “I can also tell you that, with the benefit of hindsight, even closer communication with Congress would have been advisable. But my commitment is, and always has been, to tell you the truth and to address issues head on.”
Wisconsin John Doe
WKOW Madison: IRS complaint filed against Wisconsin Club for Growth
Greg Neumann
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign complaint alleges WCFG engaged in political campaigns as its primary activity.
If proven to be true, that would be a problem for WCFG because it is classified as a “social welfare” organization by the IRS. Under that designation, it cannot directly or indirectly participate or intervene in political campaigns.
But the Democracy Campaign argues recently leaked documents from a John Doe investigation into Gov. Walker’s coordination with WCFG show officials with the group were not only involved in raising money for political purposes, but for political campaigns…
This is the second time an IRS complaint has been filed against Wisconsin Club for Growth.
Tax Financed Campaigns
Washington Post: Green Party’s Jill Stein gets a financial boost, thanks to taxpayers
Marilyn W. Thompson
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is barely registering in the polls, but in recent months, an infusion of cash has enabled her campaign to pay an award-winning advertising firm, host parties and rent office space in pricey Brooklyn.
The source of a good chunk of the money: taxpayers.
Stein is the only candidate on the November ballot who is relying on public money to help pay campaign bills. In addition to her own fundraising, she has received four federal payments totaling $456,000 under the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, a moribund program whose critics call it the “loser’s fund.”
FEC
Bloomberg BNA: FEC Faulted for Failure to Enforce Disclosure on Nonprofits
Kenneth P. Doyle
“It blinks reality to conclude that many of the ads considered by the Commissioners in this case were not designed to influence the election or defeat of a particular candidate in an ongoing race,” the judge said in the ruling…
Cooper’s ruling could be appealed by the FEC, though it appeared unlikely a four-vote majority of the six-member commission would approve an appeal. The FEC’s three Republican commissioners have long been at odds with the three commissioners recommended by Democrats over disclosure issues.
The case appeared more likely to be appealed by AAN, which moved to intervene in the litigation shortly after the court case was filed in 2014.
“Reformers”
Sunlight Foundation: Statement from Sunlight Foundation’s board chairman
Mike Klein
We are aware that the robust maturation of technology over the past decade has — happily but substantially — reduced the urgency of Sunlight’s early role as a leading transparency innovator. In addition, the board had to recognize that Sunlight’s initiating objective— to build support for better legislation against and regulation of the power of money in politics— has been significantly limited by the US Supreme Court’s 5-4 Citizens United decision.
Those factors required a rethinking of what, if anything, can most effectively be done with the resources available to continue the technology/transparency cause and Sunlight’s role in it. We’ve done that work, and here is what we have determined.
The board has not found a candidate for executive director who persuaded us of both a compelling new strategic vision and of their capacity to lead Sunlight to its achievement. Accordingly, we have determined to explore alliances with other organizations similarly motivated, perhaps merging with one of them, in an arrangement that advances and preserves Sunlight’s mission and identity with increased efficiency and effectiveness.
Supreme Court
Intercept: Justice Kennedy, Author of Citizens United, Shrugs Off Question About His Deeply Flawed Premise
Lee Fang
I caught up with Kennedy during a reception at the Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Library and Learning Center in the Robert Matsui Courthouse hosted by the Federal Bar Association Sacramento Chapter last Friday. Kennedy, after listening to my question about the false crux of his decision, waved his hand and shrugged off the issue, calling it something for others, “the bar and the lower bench to figure out”:
…FANG: But as we’ve seen in the last six years, that has not been the case. Millions of dollars have been coordinated between SuperPACs and candidates —
KENNEDY: Well, I don’t comment. That’s for the bar and the lower bench to figure out.
FANG: Do you think the case should be revisited?
KENNEDY: I don’t comment on my cases.
Candidates and Campaigns
ABC News: Hillary Clinton Slated to Spend 53 Times as Much as Donald Trump on Florida TV Ads
Ryan Struyk
A whopping 95 percent of all campaign television ad spending scheduled between today and Election Day — more than $143 million worth — comes from Clinton’s team, according to an ABC News analysis of CMAG/Kantar Media data.
Team Clinton will spend $143.2 million on television ads, versus only $6.8 million for Team Trump.
The difference in future spending in key battleground states is even starker — with Team Clinton slated to spend 53 times as much as Team Trump on television ads in Florida between now and Nov. 8.
The States
Argus Leader: Those backing Trump should approve IM 22, national backers say
Dana Ferguson
Pudner said despite the opposition from the state GOP, grassroots Republican voters would be eager to approve the measure because they want to defeat “crony capitalism,” a message Trump has championed during his campaign.
“The rank and file conservatives are going to care about this,” he said.
Opponents, however, said the appearances were the latest in an effort to bring out-of-state influence to sway voters.
“All of these efforts are part of outside influences trying to change the way we do things in this state,” Ryan Budmayr, executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party said.
Los Angeles Times: State agency under fire for pressuring open-government groups it regulates to change position on legislation
Patrick McGreevy
A rare and heated dispute has erupted between California’s campaign finance regulators and open-government groups that have accused the watchdog agency of pressuring them to rescind their support for legislation designed to show who is funding political ads.
Supporters of the bill criticized the state Fair Political Practices Commission for heavy-handed tactics that they said included pushing groups the commission has the power to investigate and fine to drop their support for the transparency bill.
“It’s really inappropriate for a regulator who has enormous power over organizations to call up those organizations over which they have power, and lobby them,” said Trent Lange, president of California Clean Money Campaign. “It’s just inherently intimidating to have your regulator call you and ask you to do something.”
Miami Herald: Campaign-finance rules won’t be on Miami-Dade ballot
Douglas Hanks
The petition drive to get new campaign-finance rules before Miami-Dade voters in November officially ended Monday when an appeals court formally overruled a judge who had ordered the package on the ballot…
But the higher court also left the door open for another legal fight, saying the group behind the ballot-item drive, An Accountable Miami-Dade, was free to file a separate suit challenging the commission’s conclusion.
