Institute For Free Speech

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…

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 ...

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC and Heritage Action
November 17, 2022   •  By Scott Blackburn   •  ,

This case is about what happens when a federal agency goes rogue and decides it no longer must follow its own organizing statute or ...

FEC Draft Rule on Internet Communications Disclaimers Needs More Work
November 16, 2022   •  By Brad Smith and David Keating   •  , , ,

Update: On November 28, FEC Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioner Shana Broussard submitted a revised draft of the proposed final rule. The revised draft, ...

Comments to the FEC Regarding Advisory Opinion Request 2022-12 (Ready for Ron)
August 30, 2022   •  By Gary Lawkowski   •  ,

RE: Advisory Opinion Request 2022-12 (Ready for Ron) Dear Commissioners: The Institute for Free Speech[1] submits this comment in support of Draft B in ...

Important First Amendment Supreme Court Decision Cruises Under the Radar
July 21, 2022   •  By Barnaby Zall   •  , , ,

FEC v. Cruz is a forceful restatement of the Court’s intention to protect political speech and clarifies that governments must justify restrictions with specific ...

President Biden Asks Congress to Censor Political Speech in First State of the Union Address
March 9, 2022   •  By Nathan Maxwell   •  , , , , , ,

The State of the Union address is the president’s yearly opportunity to discuss solutions to the nation’s toughest problems before Congress. In President Joe ...

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