FEC: An Agency Tasked with Regulating First Amendment Activity

January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

The Federal Election Commission is the independent agency charged with enforcing federal campaign finance law and enacting campaign finance regulations. The FEC was created after the Nixon Administration’s Justice Department pursued criminal campaign finance charges against the President’s critics. In light of that effort, Congress correctly rejected the idea of letting a future president effectively control a government agency tasked…

Institute for Free Speech Urges D.C. Circuit to Protect Political Speech from Private Enforcement

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September 28, 2023   •  By IFS Staff   •  ,

The Institute for Free Speech today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Campaign Legal ...

Campaign Legal Center v. 45Committee, Inc.

September 28, 2023   •  By IFS Staff   •  ,

The Institute for Free Speech today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Campaign Legal ...

Comments on Investigations Conducted by the Office of General Counsel

September 12, 2023   •  By Brad Smith   •  ,

On September 12, 2023, the Institute for Free Speech submitted comments to the Federal Election Commission in support of Agenda Document 23-21-A, “Investigations Conducted ...

Comments on FEC Agency Procedure Regarding Litigation

July 10, 2023   •  By Brad Smith   •  ,

On July 10th, the Institute for Free Speech submitted comments to the Federal Election Commission in support of Agenda Document 23-13-A that would make ...

Comments on WinRed, Inc.’s FEC Petition on Conduit Reporting Threshold

July 7, 2023   •  By Brad Smith   •  ,

On July 7th, IFS submitted comments to the Federal Election Commission in support of WinRed Inc.'s petition for rulemaking on REG 2022-05: Conduit Reporting ...

The IRS still plays political speech police

May 31, 2023   •  By Brad Smith   •  , ,

This month marked the 10th anniversary of the Tea Party scandal: The first public admission by then-Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner that the IRS had ...

Bradley A. Smith Highlights Critical Importance of Free Political Speech at Committee on House Administration Hearing

May 11, 2023   •  By IFS Staff   •  , , ,

Institute for Free Speech Chairman and Founder Bradley A. Smith discussed the fundamental importance of safeguarding Americans’ ability to speak freely at a House ...

Trump Indictment Is a Perversion of Campaign-Finance Law

May 5, 2023   •  By Brad Smith   •  ,

Here’s where Mr. Bragg’s legal problem comes in: Was the hush money a campaign contribution? The governing statute, the Federal Election Campaign Act, provides ...

Comments to the FEC in Regards to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on “Technological Modernization”

January 10, 2023   •  By David Keating   •  ,

Read the pdf here. Re: REG 2023-01 (Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking; Notice 2022-20; 87 Fed. Reg. 236) Dear Ms. Rothstein, Ms. Waldstreicher, and ...

The Unexplained 25% Threshold in the “Final” FEC Draft Rule

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December 1, 2022   •  By David Keating   •  , ,

It struck us the FEC’s “Draft Final Rule and Explanation and Justification for Internet Communications Disclaimers” on the agenda today doesn’t explain or justify ...

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