Tag Archives: campaign finance

Politico reports: The House Ethics Committee closed investigations into at least four members Monday for violating campaign finance rules. The investigations involved Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.), Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) and “other confidential matters that have been under review.” The committee declined to disclose further details on those cases. In a statement, Jackson hailed the …

The Arizona Republic reports: A government watchdog group has filed a complaint against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, alleging that her recent pricey travel expenditures broke campaign-finance laws. The nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is accusing Sinema, I-Ariz., of breaking election rules that prohibit candidates from using campaign funds for strictly personal purposes. Sinema announced in March that she …

The Hill reports: The latest demographic effort backing Vice President Harris, “White Dudes for Harris.” raised over $4 million on a call on Monday evening. Additionally, over 190,000 participants joined the call Monday and 150,000 people joined the group. The call was put together by a number of Democratic organizers not affiliated with Harris’s campaign. Contenders on Harris’s vice-presidential shortlist, …

The San Antonio Current reports: As much as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wants the media to stop reporting on the controversial deal he inked for distribution of his podcast, federal filings continue to shine light on just how much cash it’s raking in for his reelection efforts. A super PAC that lists its primary goal as helping Cruz win …

The Washington Post reports: The Democratic National Committee accused third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday of violating federal election law by unlawfully coordinating with a supportive super PAC in a $15 million effort to collect signatures for state ballot access. “Put simply, to qualify for the ballot under state law, American Values 2024 must coordinate its activity with …

Politico reports: A watchdog group that has already filed several complaints against Gov. Ron DeSantis is now alleging that the Florida Republican and a super PAC aiding his presidential bid violated federal campaign finance laws. DeSantis’ reliance on Never Back Down, which was set up with an infusion of more than $80 million transferred from a committee that once was …

Politico reports: Republicans have waged a decades-long battle to blow up the campaign-finance laws that rein in big-money spending. Now, they are making a play that could end in their biggest victory since the Citizens United ruling in 2010. The GOP is growing increasingly optimistic about their prospects in a little-noticed lawsuit that would allow official party committees and candidates …

Courthouse News reports: A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday wrestled with the government’s decision to try former U.S. Congressman Jeffrey Fortenberry of Nebraska in Southern California on charges of making false statements to investigators in his home state and in Washington. Fortenberry, 62, was convicted last year of concealing a $30,000 illegal campaign contribution from a Parisian billionaire and lying …

Axios reports: The last two presidential elections have been colored by allegations that foreign influence helped the GOP. Now House Republicans are trying to flip to script and draw attention to foreign donations to Democrat-aligned and progressive nonprofit organizations. Non-U.S. citizens can’t contribute to candidates, campaigns, or super PACs, but they can give to 501(c)(4) organizations, which are tax-exempt groups …

The City reports: Six people were indicted Friday in Manhattan for allegedly bundling illegal donations to Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign, saying in phone conversations that Adams “doesn’t want to do anything if he doesn’t get 25 Gs.” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the defendants — Dwayne Montgomery, Shamsuddin Riza, Millicent Redick, Ronald Peek, Yahya Mushtaq, Shahid Mushtaq, and …

CNBC reports: DeSantis, widely considered former President Donald Trump’s top potential Republican primary rival, won his 2018 gubernatorial race and easily clinched reelection in 2022 with the help of a deep-pocketed state political committee. The group has raised more than $225 million for DeSantis and currently boasts nearly $86 million in cash on hand. But if DeSantis decides to run …

The Washington Post reports: Former president Donald Trump’s fundraising slowed in the first half of 2022, falling below $50 million in a six-month period for the first time since he left the White House 18 months ago. A fundraising committee that directs money to his various political groups raised $17 million in the second quarter of this year, according to …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal restriction that applied to candidates who loan large amounts of money to their own political campaigns, a victory for Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who challenged it. In a 6-3 ruling, the court said the law, adopted in 2002, was a violation of a political candidate’s free …

The Washington Post reports: In the final days of the 2018 election, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) loaned his campaign $260,000, specifically so he could challenge an obscure campaign finance restriction that only $250,000 in personal loans can be repaid with money raised after an election. Oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated Cruz is in position to collect …

The Daily Beast reports: A gun control nonprofit founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (R-AZ) sued the National Rifle Association on Tuesday, filing a federal lawsuit alleging that the gun rights group carried out an illegal, multimillion-dollar political coordination scheme that went on for years to the benefit of Donald Trump and other Republicans. It could also be a landmark …

The Daily Beast reports: Swing-district Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) has styled herself as a small business booster in the image of Donald Trump—and just like the former president, some of Tenney’s favorite businesses to support seem to be her own. According to a Daily Beast review of Federal Election Commission records, the congresswoman from upstate New York—who scratched out a …

Roll Call reports: The Supreme Court announced Thursday it will decide a challenge to an obscure section of a campaign finance law from Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz — one that includes whether it matters if he “self-inflicted” a $10,000 harm during his 2018 run for Senate just so that he could file a lawsuit. The Federal Election Commission asked …

The Washington Post reports: Attorneys general in four states are looking into the online fundraising practices of both major political parties, according to court documents and a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The practices being examined include the use of pre-checked boxes that lock in recurring donations from political donors who may not intend to sign up for …

Axios reports: The National Republican Congressional Committee is the first national party committee to solicit crypto donations. That puts it at the forefront of a disruptive financial technology that could test campaign finance rules. “We are focused on pursuing every avenue possible to further our mission of stopping Nancy Pelosi’s socialist agenda and retaking the House majority, and this innovative …

The Hill reports: A federal court on Thursday sided with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in his lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC), striking down rules limiting how much money candidates can raise after an election to pay off loans. Cruz challenged a section of election law that says campaigns cannot pay back more than $250,000 in personal loans through …