In the News
Cato Institute: Federal Contractors Shouldn’t Lose First Amendment Rights
By ILYA SHAPIRO and TREVOR BURRUSFrom the Boston Tea Party of 1773 to today’s Tea Party movement, from suffragettes to Occupiers, freedom of political association has always been this country’s hallmark. Importantly, this First Amendment freedom extends to campaign contributions. As the Supreme Court affirmed in the 1976 case Buckley v. Valeo,“the right of association is a basic constitutional freedom that is closely allied to freedom of speech and a right which, like free speech, lies at the foundation of a free society.”The Buckley ruling has since survived many assaults—including, most notably, Citizens United v. FEC—though Citizens United exposed certain instabilities in Buckley’s framework. In any event, challenges continue to arise at the intersection of campaign finance law, political association rights, and the freedom of speech.
Independent Groups
Politico: FreedomWorks denies John Cornyn portrayal
By ELIZABETH TITUSOn Tuesday, FreedomWorks sought to distinguish Steinhauser’s job there as separate from the group’s superPAC, FreedomWorks for America. While Steinhauser did field work for the super PAC in support of Cruz (R-Texas), he did not lead the effort, the group says — super PAC officials Russ Walker and Ryan Hecker did.
“As a 501 (c3) and (c4) employee, Brendan Steinhauser was not involved in the decision to endorse Ted Cruzearly in the Texas Republican primary,” FreedomWorks said in a statement. The group says it was obligated to make the distinction, and called for Cornyn’s campaign to correct its statement.
Washington Times: Feds admit improper scrutiny of candidate, donor tax records
By Dave Boyer and Ben WolfgangA government watchdog has found for the first time that confidential tax records of several political candidates and campaign donors were improperly scrutinized by government officials, but the Justice Department has declined to prosecute any of the cases.Its investigators also are probing two allegations that the Internal Revenue Service “targeted for audit candidates for public office,” the Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George, has privately told Sen. Chuck Grassley.
The Hill: Three IRS staffers to testify about targeting
By Bernie BeckerElizabeth Hofacre, Carter Hull and Steve Grodnitzky have all been invited to testify before the Oversight panel as it looks into how IRS offices in Cincinnati and Washington processed the tax-exempt applications — and how those applications were held up.But a spokesman for Republicans on the Oversight Committee also declined to say whether Russell George, the Treasury inspector general who detailed the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups, would be recalled to testify.
Forbes: As Debate Into Tax Exempt Scandal Continues, Here’s A Timeline Of Who Knew What And When
By Kelly PhillipsThe further we get away from the onset of the scandal, it’s easy to forget the chain of events that lead up to it: it didn’t happen all at once. And context is important.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
Politico: Obama campaign still $3.5 million in debt
By Byron TauPresident Barack Obama’s reelection campaign — or what’s left of it — has about $3.5 million in debt, according to campaign reports filed Monday.Obama’s primary campaign committee Obama for America remains significantly in debt to vendors, consultants and other service providers more than six months after election day.
Wall Street Journal: McConnell: Pleased ‘Nuclear Option’ Not Used
By Corey BolesSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said that he was pleased thatDemocrats hadn’t gone through with their threat to push the “nuclear option” and remove the minority party’s right to filibuster executive nominations.He said the Senate would try to process the two new nominees to the National Labor Relations Board that the White House will select in July before lawmakers depart Washington for the August recess.
Forbes: CREW Director Insists Case Against Citizens United Attorney Is Strong
By Peter J ReillyWow. That last sentence really stung, considering I’m a CPA with more than 30 years of tax experience and have indeed prepared non-profit tax returns. I wonder whether others who write stories based on exactly what was in the CREW press release will be chastised in the event that they don’t uncritically accept CREW’s conclusions. The CREW argument focuses on the payments from JMCFS to the Bopp Law Firm being unsubstantiated and therefore automatic excess benefit transactions, because questions on the 990 were answered incorrectly. That strikes me as a weak case. Anyway, I hope I can get a few other tax people to take a look at this. Maybe they will set me straight, but I remain unconvinced.
State and Local
Virginia –– NY Times: Virginia’s Attorney General Faces Scrutiny for Ties to Executive
By Trip GabrielKenneth T. Cuccinelli II, Virginia’s attorney general, said that the timing of his ownership of Star Scientific shares reflected nothing more than his own investment analysis.Star Scientific and its chief executive have been at the center of an exploding political drama in Virginia as state and federal investigators look into lavish gifts that the executive, Jonnie R. Williams Sr., gave Gov. Bob McDonnell.
