CCP
Cuomo’s Campaign “Coordination” Plan Attacks First Amendment Rights
The Center for Competitive Politics issued the following statement today from its president David Keating:
“Governor Cuomo’s definition of what qualifies as coordination is as preposterous as it is dangerous to free speech. Cuomo wants to throw you in jail if you simply donate to a candidate’s campaign and also an independent group that supports the same candidate. If you give to a candidate and an independent group, the police could come to your home to investigate you for a felony. That’s essentially what Governor Cuomo is proposing.”
“His guidance appears so poorly drafted that if a candidate and independent group even use a common vendor like FedEx to deliver packages, that is evidence of coordination. New York can and should make clear what constitutes coordination, but Cuomo’s guidance makes the problem worse, not better. Under this proposal, speakers will have less guidance and even more reason to worry about a government that wants to shut them up.”
Independent Groups
New York Times: Cuomo Seeks Fixes to ‘Rampant’ Problems in New York’s Campaign Contribution System
Jesse McKinley
In particular, the governor will suggest clarifying criteria — via a legal opinion and legislation to be introduced — for determining if a candidate is improperly coordinating with a committee, including whether the candidate and committee have overlapping donor bases, past staff members in common or the same consultants…
The plan — laid out in an opinion from his counsel, Alphonso David — would also set up a so-called safe harbor provision for independent committees to list their donors and other information so as to avoid the appearance of conflict between the committees and candidates. If made into law, such violations would be felonies, according to the governor’s office.
Politico New York: Cuomo announces new efforts to regulate Super PACs
Bill Mahoney
That’s likely because independent expenditures are still relatively minor players on New York’s campaign finance stage. In the last election cycle, the money raised in direct contributions by Cuomo’s campaign committee was almost three times as much as the total Super PACs spent on every gubernatorial, attorney general, comptroller, Senate, and Assembly candidate combined. The $18 million they spent accounted for only about 6.8 percent of all the money entering state races.
That’s likely because of the numerous other avenues donors who want to give a lot of money to can take that are much easier than creating their own committee. The state’s contribution limits are the highest in the nation among the 38 states that impose any limits at all, and these are easy to circumvent if somebody wants to give through limited liability companies or to political parties’ housekeeping accounts. Cuomo, for example, benefited from over $2 million from just one donor in the last cycle, none of which went through a registered Super PAC.
Gotham Gazette: Cuomo Launches End-of-Session Addition to Stagnant Ethics Agenda
David Howard King
The governor made his announcement in New York City rather than in Albany where legislators were in session and appeared to reference Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom he has an ongoing feud with, on several occasions. Once of which was when he said to reporters after the event, “The press asks a politician, ‘are you going to set up an independent expenditure committee,’ and the politician will say, ‘I’m thinking about it.’ You basically asked if somebody is going to commit a crime, and the person said, ‘I’m thinking about it.”
Earned Media
Bloomberg: Trump Says ‘No Reason’ to Raise $1 Billion for Campaign
Michael C. Bender and Jennifer Jacobs
Trump, who has held just two major fundraising events since agreeing three weeks ago to help the party raise cash, said he would rely instead more on his own star power as a former reality-TV personality to earn free media, and has no specific goals for how much money his campaign needs.
“There’s no reason to raise that,” Trump said about raising $1 billion. “I just don’t think I need nearly as much money as other people need because I get so much publicity. I get so many invitations to be on television. I get so many interviews, if I want them.”
Congress
New York Times: Senate Democrats to Release a Policy Agenda
Jennifer Steinhauer
Led by Senators Chuck Schumer of New York, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the Democrats’ package will include Senate bills — likely to never see the light of day on the floor under Republican control — that would hit campaign contributions, lobbying laws and other accountability issues.
One measure would require organizations spending money in elections, including “super PACs,” to disclose donors who give $10,000 or more during an election cycle. Another would require all candidates for federal office to report campaign contributions over $1,000 to the Federal Election Commission within 48 hours. The Democrats would also seek a permanent ban on lobbying by former members of Congress, a major change from the current two-year prohibition.
Free Speech
Intercept: Andrew Cuomo and Other Democrats Launch Severe Attack on Free Speech to Protect Israel
Glenn Greenwald and Andrew Fishman
But now, New York’s Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo (above, in the 2016 Celebrate Israel Parade) has significantly escalated this free speech attack on U.S. soil, aimed at U.S. citizens. The prince of the New York political dynasty yesterday issued an executive order directing all agencies under his control to terminate any and all business with companies or organizations that support a boycott of Israel. It ensures that citizens who hold and express a particular view are punished through the denial of benefits that other citizens enjoy: a classic free speech violation (imagine if Cuomo issued an order stating that “anyone who expresses conservative viewpoints shall have all state benefits immediately terminated”).
FIRE: Watch the ‘Can We Take a Joke?’ Trailer!
Nico Perrino
Yesterday, iTunes released the trailer for the FIRE-supported documentary Can We Take a Joke?, a film about what happens when outrage and comedy collide. Check it out!
The film is due to hit select theaters July 29, and will be available to download from iTunes August 2.
The Media
Washington Post: BuzzFeed’s unprecedented Donald Trump ad ban baffles the news biz
Callum Borchers
BuzzFeed’s move appears to be without precedent in modern politics.
“I don’t recall any recent political party or campaign being denied media ad buys, especially from one representing a major U.S. party,” said Jeff Fleming, editor in chief of Editor & Publisher magazine.
Other media companies, including NBC, ESPN and Univision, previously severed business ties to Trump. But those decisions involved broadcasts of Trump-owned beauty pageants or golf tournaments at the real estate developer’s courses; they did not involve his political advertising…
“On principle, I believe it is unwise for any media operation that views itself as fair and independent to issue a total block against one candidate’s advertising, notably a major-party candidate for president,” said Dave Hunke, former publisher of USA Today.
FEC
Executive Gov: GSA’s 18F, FEC Add New Tools to Campaign Finance Data Website Through ‘Agile’ Methods, User-Centered Design
Jane Edwards
The General Services Administration’s 18F organization has collaborated with the Federal Election Commission to incorporate new tools to FEC’s legacy website designed to help users access and explore finance data related to political campaigns.
Leah Bannon and Noah Manger wrote in a blog entry published Tuesday that 18F and FEC used a user-centered design approach and agile methods as well as launched an application programming interface in order to introduce new functions to the beta version of fec.gov.
Candidates and Campaigns
New York Times: Donald Trump Softens His Tone, and the G.O.P. Hopes It Will Last
Ashley Parker and Maggie Haberman
And on Friday evening, Mr. Trump is to attend a fund-raiser in Richmond, Va., though the invitation that went out just over a week before the event did not specify where it would be held. It also did not have host names, tiers of donors or even a request for a specific dollar amount — all basics of most political fund-raisers.
Mr. Trump has complicated matters by resisting efforts to engage in routine telephone calls to donors and to make gentle requests of people to write checks. Some donors who have been approached have given tepid responses, worried about their names showing up in a public campaign-finance filing.
Wall Street Journal: Trump Team, RNC Fundraisers to Huddle, as General Election Cash Hunt Gets Under Way
Reid J. Epstein and Rebecca Ballhaus
Some fundraisers, however, have voiced concerns about the effect of Mr. Trump’s comments about the judge, saying they risk alienating donors.
New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox, who last year called Mr. Trump’s plan to ban Muslim immigrants a “mistake” and waited until April to endorse him, said he will attend Thursday’s meeting.
Of Mr. Trump’s comments about the federal judge Mr. Cox said, “It’s over.” He added, “I have seen the list of fundraisers coming on board and whatever the issues have been in the past are getting solved… We are moving onto the issues the American people really care about, which is jobs and the economy.”
International Business Times: How Bernie Sanders Changed Democratic Fundraising, Beating Hillary Clinton’s Total
Ned Resnikoff
Though Sanders eschewed fundraisers, he was nonetheless a match for Clinton in fundraising throughout the campaign. In several months, disclosure forms show that he trounced her in the race for cash. The most recent Federal Election Commission data shows he has raised slightly more than she did over the course of the campaign, though the total does not include money raised for super PACs favoring one candidate or the other.
As a result, Sanders was able to race further and harder than any comparable left-wing challenger in recent memory. Twelve years ago, one of the Sanders campaign’s direct ancestors — the presidential candidacy of anti-war Vermont Gov. Howard Dean — came to an abrupt end after a disappointing showing in the February Wisconsin primary. In contrast, Sanders marshaled the financial resources to withstand any one isolated setback.
The States
BillMoyers.com: Missouri Could Be the Show-Down State for Money in Politics This Fall
Jo Mannies
Within weeks, the Missouri secretary of state’s office should announce whether a group called Returning Government To the People submitted enough qualified voter signatures to put a proposal limiting campaign contributions onto the November ballot…
A battle over campaign finance limits in Missouri would be symbolically significant because the state is unusually wide open when it comes to political money: The Show Me State has no limits on campaign contributions and none on gifts from lobbyists.
WSHU New Haven: L.I. Advocacy Groups Press For Campaign Finance Reform
Jessica Opatich
On Tuesday government reform groups called on New York State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-2) to bring to a vote a bill that would close what’s known as the “LLC Loophole.”
The loophole allows donors to skirt limitations on individual campaign contributions by donating anonymously through one or more limited liability companies.
The bills are stalled in the state Senate with just five days remaining in the legislative session.
Billings Gazette: Money didn’t guarantee success in Tuesday’s voting
Holly Michels and Jayme Fraser
While many who outspent their opponents won, several high-profile legislative races broke the other way. And candidates who provided most of their money themselves generally did not fare well.
More than $503,000 was spent in contested legislative primaries statewide. Republicans put down an average of $5,416 compared to Democrats’ $2,703, a reflection of tension between moderate and conservative wings of the GOP.
