CCP
ICYMI: “Corporate Political Spending and Foreign Influence” Forum Criticized
Bradley A. Smith and David Keating
“This forum makes a mockery of the purpose of the FEC – to be the nonpartisan regulator of campaign finance law,” said CCP Chairman Brad Smith.
CCP President David Keating said, “a forum like this is better suited for a leftist think tank than the FEC. After Watergate, Congress created the agency to prevent one party from writing campaign speech rules to benefit their candidates and ideas. A partisan forum promoting speech limits is something that President Nixon would have admired.”
Free Speech
WBUR Boston: Is The Left Silencing Free Speech?
Tom Ashbrook
Liberals fear being run over by the flood of big money unleashed with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. Conservatives fear being muzzled by regulation, legislation, the I.R.S. and political correctness on steroids. In her new book “The Intimidation Game,” Wall Street Journal columnist Kim Strassel charges those factors have hardened into an active campaign to silence the right. This hour On Point, free speech, and American political battle lines now.
The Nation: Andrew Cuomo’s BDS Blacklist Is a Clear Violation of the First Amendment
Dima Khalidi
The order’s requirement that the state create a blacklist of companies and institutions that promote or engage in BDS also presents a blatant effort to chill First Amendment–protected activities. The order is so vague and open to interpretation that people have no idea what actions would qualify an institution for the blacklist. What constitutes “promoting” a boycott? Is a Facebook post publicizing a boycott sufficient to get you on the list? Signing a petition? Whom will the state hire to make these determinations?
Independent Groups
Wall Street Journal: Donor Says Trump Campaign Voiced Support for Super PAC
Rebecca Ballhaus
Donald Trump’s campaign is voicing its support for a super PAC funded by hedge-fund manager Robert Mercer, according to a top donor, effectively giving its blessing to one of the slew of outside groups that have cropped up to support the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The formation of the new super PAC—registered as Make America Number I, but informally referred to by donors as “Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC”—follows months in which at least three other super PACs have vied to become the primary vehicle for unlimited donations. That dynamic has been a source of confusion for many of the party’s top donors, who were unsure where to direct their funds.
FEC
Boston Globe: Get foreign political money out of US elections
Lawrence H. Tribe and Scott Greytak
Thursday’s forum is a milestone for addressing the problem, but the FEC, deadlocked into irrelevance by partisan interests, is in no position to lead the fight. Instead, local governments can raise the flag by passing laws that prohibit foreign-influenced corporations from spending money on their elections. Record-breaking engagement from average Americans would provide the issue with a ready-made base of support. For if the past is any guide, corporations like Uber will continue to try to steer American elections, regardless of who’s sharing the wheel.
Conventions
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Federal judge overturns Cleveland’s restrictions on RNC protests
Eric Heisig
A federal judge on Thursday scrapped the city of Cleveland’s plans for a heightened-security zone that would have encompassed most of downtown during the Republican National Convention, saying that the restrictions are burdensome to people who want to express their free-speech rights.
U.S. District Judge James Gwin’s ruling comes 25 days before Republican delegates and leaders will descend upon Cleveland and forces the city to redraw the boundaries to the so-called “event zone,” which would have encompassed a 3.5-square-mile area at the heart of the city.
Influence
Vox: Liberals say Congress can’t pass gun control because it’s bought by the NRA. They’re wrong.
Jeff Stein
“Those who favor gun control convinced enough elements of the donor community that the problem was money,” says Matt Grossmann, a political scientist at Michigan State University, in an interview. “They went about trying to solve that problem by matching the gun rights lobby’s funding.”
Two years later, and the shifting financial landscape hasn’t changed much: America still can’t enact meaningful gun legislation.
“Michael Bloomberg offering to give money to Republicans hypothetically makes a clear case,” says Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at the think tank New America and the author of several books on money in politics (and a Vox contributor). “If the theory is that they’re selling their votes to the highest bidder, it has to be something else.”
Candidates and Campaigns
Guardian: Donald Trump forgives more than $50m in personal loans to campaign
Ben Jacobs
The Trump campaign announced the loans totaled more than $50m, although the Federal Election Commission (FEC) only lists $45,703,185 loaned by the candidate to the campaign.
Although no documentation had been filed with the FEC online on Thursday afternoon, a Trump spokesperson told the Guardian: “My understanding is it is in process and will be completed today.”
In forgiving the loans, Trump sent a major signal to Republican donors who were worried that he would use campaign contributions to reimburse himself. So far, Trump has only raised $17m in individual contributions, many of which have come from small donors buying hats from his campaign.
New York Times: Why Isn’t Donald Trump Campaigning in Swing States?
Nate Cohn and Toni Monkovic
There’s still time to build a campaign. There’s still time to adopt a more consistent and appealing message.
But he hasn’t really given much reason to think he can or will do either of those things.
That said, there is some progress on both of those fronts. He has been fund-raising, and his speech [Wednesday] was more focused than some of his other efforts over the last month.
Washington Post: What is Left Hand Enterprises and why did the Trump campaign pay it $730,000?
Matea Gold
On April 25, a new company called Left Hand Enterprises LLC was formed in Delaware, listing as its address an incorporation service provider in Wilmington.
A few days later, the firm received two big payments totaling $503,133 from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to print and send a major shipment of direct mail. The campaign cut another $227,504 check to Left Hand Enterprises on May 2, new campaign finance filings show…
Schmitz, a former executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party, confirmed that he started Left Hand. In an email, he said the campaign’s then-field director, Rick Wiley, brought him aboard the Trump campaign.
“The campaign reached out looking for higher quality mail at a cheaper price point than what they were getting, and we delivered on that,” Schmitz wrote.
The States
Fox Carolina: Governor Haley signs long-awaited ethics reform bill Thursday
WIS Staff
Governor Nikki Haley will make a legislative victory official Thursday as she signs the long-fought ethics reform legislation into law.
The governor will hold a bill signing ceremony for two bills passed last week which are aimed at bringing more transparency to the State House.
Among the provisions are independent investigations for officials who’ve had complaints filed against them and a requirement that officials must disclose private sources of income.
Boston Herald: State’s chief campaign official seeks heftier fines for PACs
Matt Stout
“You have independent expenditure PACs spending large amounts of money. I’m looking at that and saying, ‘You know what? I don’t think $25 is going to be a deterrent to someone making a $200,000 or $300,000 media buy,’” Sullivan told the Herald.
Any move to boost penalties — last set in 2010 — should tackle “the whole universe” of fines, said Sullivan, adding, “We have a one-size-fits-all (system), and I’m not sure if that’s the way it should work.”
