Bob Bauer
The Republican Commissioners say that the law is unclear and, absent a clear purpose to evade reporting requirements, there is no justification for enforcement. From the outside, Brad Smith agrees, and he questions why the Democrats won’t give up on enforcement actions on which there is no agreement and simply work on a rulemaking to establish clear, concrete rules…
Taking the claims on each side at face value—crediting the Commissioners with meaning only what they say—one can ask: what is this argument about? The very skilled Smith has shown that someone so inclined could defend the proposition that that there was really some doubt about the law and a donor might imagine that she could set up an LLC or use an existing one to make a contribution that would be reported only in its name and not in hers . Elsewhere, here included, there has been doubt that there could be any doubt. Lawyers disagree.
