In the News
The Hill: The First Amendment and a phony foreign threat
Bradley Smith
Those favoring retention of Schedule B invoke a familiar bogeyman – “foreign money.” Without Schedule B, they assert, foreign donors could funnel cash to politically active non-profit organizations to influence American elections.
In fact, it has always been legal for foreign citizens to contribute to non-profits, and there is simply no evidence that foreigners are using tax-exempt organizations to influence our politics. Foreign contributions to election campaigns are already unlawful. If the government has credible evidence of foreign entities evading campaign finance law by donating to tax-exempt organizations, it has powerful investigative tools. And under the Bank Secrecy Act, federal regulations already require that “Every bank shall file with the Treasury Department … a report of any suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation.”
Public corruption involving foreign money can be a serious concern. The Department of Justice is investigating foreign contributions to Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe now. But Schedule B, however, has had nothing to do with rooting out this or other actual cases of corruption—and it is not designed for that purpose.
More Soft Money Hard Law: More on Campaign Finance and the Threat of Darkness: Trumpism and Issues Speech
Bob Bauer
How this question of “practical application” will affect speakers, or potential speakers, concerned about Trumpism remains to be seen. Perhaps some will say that the regulatory consequences are modest, in some instances “only” mandatory reporting to regulatory authorities of the financing of the communication. Others, less sanguine, will take heightened interest in any fresh intervention of the Supreme Court, which could come as soon as its decision on whether to take up a case like Delaware Strong Families v. Denn. At any rate it is sure to pose another challenge to the Times’ complex, awkward balancing of an urgent concern over an election stated to have near-apocalyptic significance, and its staunch advocacy of the regulation of political spending in the election season.
CCP
Cuomo hit on anti-speech “BDS” policy
Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) Chairman Bradley A. Smith and President David Keating sent a letter to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urging him to modify or rescind his Executive Order opposing the “BDS” campaign against Israel. The Order infringes on First Amendment speech rights.
Here are excerpts from the letter:
[The Order] constitutes an unacceptable and unconstitutional assault on freedom of speech and expression, and we urge you to modify or rescind the Order…
[The Executive Order] goes further, however, by specifically basing state investment decisions not only on whether a company or other institution complies with state laws, but on a company’s or institution’s willingness to surrender its First Amendment rights as a condition of state investment. Indeed, under the Order, an institution … must refrain not only in its own actions, it may not even “promote others” to engage in certain activities pertaining to the state of Israel.
Former Obama Counsel Bauer on “Major” Disclosure Case at Supreme Court
There are reasons why the case might have been overlooked: it involves a small organization in a small state, and the activity concerns state and local, not federal (much less presidential), candidates. Perhaps, also, because it is ‘just’ about disclosure, this case might be supposed to pose little danger of harm to anyone’s rights or legitimate expectations.
“This is serious business. As the states move along with their own reform programs, and as litigation proceeds under different standards applied by different circuits and diminishing consistency in the treatment of federal and state or local-level enactment, disclosure doctrine is losing its coherence, and key constitutional distinctions once taken for granted are being rapidly eroded….
“In the case in question, Delaware Strong Families v. Denn, the speech took the form of a Voter Guide that reproduced positions supplied by the candidates themselves, or in the case of candidates who declined to cooperate, their stated positions drawn from the public record…
Independent Groups
Washington Post: 5 things I’ve learned from Donald Trump in the past 365 days
Chris Cillizza
Remember how the 2016 election was going to the super PAC election? If that were true, Jeb Bush would have cruised to the nomination. He didn’t. Trump did — and, yes, “cruised” is the right word for how Trump won — by spending the least money of almost any candidate running for either party’s nomination.
Yes, Trump bragged repeatedly about how he was self-funding his campaign — not accurate — but he was remarkably thrifty when it came to spending money (his own or other people’s) in this race. Trump LIVED on free media, regularly having his rallies broadcast in full on cable television and calling in at will to virtually every show across the networks.
That flood-the-zone media presence coupled with Trump’s celebrity (and social media presence) made traditional TV ads like the ones Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida were running almost totally useless.
Political Parties
New York Daily News: Hacked DNC documents may show ugly connections between the party and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign
Shaun King
Two other documents that are very concerning were internal memos. One, claiming to be written on May 26, 2015, a full year before Hillary was declared the winner of the party’s presidential nomination and months before the first primary was held, speaks of her as if she is already the nominee and how they aim to spend the following year preparing her for such a moment.
The DNC is supposed to be an unbiased arbiter of the campaign and this memo suggests anything but that…
Another memo claims that they “will utilize reporters to drive a message” but do so “with no fingerprints” on the process so that the public believes the messages are coming from the reporters and not the campaign.
Free Speech
CNS News: AG Schneiderman’s Lame Defense of Speech-Chilling Climate Change Investigation
Hans Bader
When a government official quotes a dissenting opinion that was on the losing side of history to justify a speech-chilling investigation, that’s a pretty clear sign that the First Amendment has been violated. And when that same official doesn’t let you know that it is a dissent, rather than an actual ruling, that’s an even clearer sign that he’s on shaky ground. But that’s what New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently did.
Donor Privacy
Independent Women’s Forum: Nosey IRS May Not Get to Snoop on Conservative Donors
Patrice L. Onwuka
Donors to nonprofits have long feared, and with good reason, that the list of donors who’ve given $5,000 or more that nonprofits must include on their tax forms will be abused. The fear is justified: in the past, the agency has not protected this information, and conservative donors who’ve never had IRS problems have been suspiciously audited. Furthermore, it is widely agreed that the agency can do its job without these lists on tax forms. The House has passed a bill that would prevent the IRS from collecting this information on tax forms.
If enacted Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act would eliminate the requirement that 501(c) organizations report information about donations of $5,000 or more. Only donations from the group’s officers and directors such as presidents and CFOS and the five highest paid employees would have to be disclosed.
Congress
USA Today: House panel votes to censure IRS chief for alleged obstruction
Erin Kelly
Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 23-15 along party lines to approve a resolution condemning and censuring Koskinen and expressing the sense of the House that he engaged in a pattern of conduct inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him.
The resolution urges the 76-year-old Koskinen to resign or be removed by President Obama. It also requires him to forfeit his government pension and any other federal benefits. Koskinen has vowed to finish his term, which ends in November 2017.
IRS
Chronicle of Philanthropy: IRS Unleashes Flood of Searchable Charity Data
Peter Olsen-Phillips
The material will be available through the Public Data Sets area of Amazon Web Services. It will also include information from digital versions of the 990-EZ form filed by smaller nonprofits and form 990-PFs filed by private foundations.
The change means the public will have quicker and more in-depth access to the 990, the primary disclosure document for and main source of information on tax-exempt organizations. The form includes data on groups’ finances, board members, executive pay, fundraising expenses, and other aspects of their operations.
Tax-financed Campaigns
Washington Post: Jimmy Carter calls for return to publicly financed elections
Marilyn W. Thompson
Carter, when he ran for the presidency, was a relatively unknown Georgia governor, but he and Ford both received $20 million in 1976 from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, a post-Watergate reform funded by a $3 option on individual income-tax returns. The fund is supposed to level the playing field in presidential elections. To receive public money, candidates must agree not to accept private contributions.
Influence
Politico: Oprah endorses Hillary Clinton
Nick Gass
Clinton’s candidacy is a “seminal moment for women” regardless of one’s political leanings, the longtime talk-show host and media mogul said at the premiere of the TV series “Greenleaf” set to air on her Oprah Winfrey Network.
“What this says is, there is no ceiling, that ceiling just went boom, you know,” Winfrey said. “It says anything is possible when you can be leader of the free world.”
Donald Trump floated Winfrey’s name as his vice president last June in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, only to tell Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the remark was only a “joke” and that the vice presidency was “not for her.”
New York Times: Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms He’s Leaving ‘Hamilton’ on July 9
Michael Paulson
And he said he would spend some time this summer encouraging Hispanics to vote in the presidential election; he said he had already appeared in a video for the Hispanic Federation encouraging voter participation.
“I’m going to be trying to get out the Latino vote as hard as possible,” he said. “I don’t think I need a lot of help. I think it’s very clear that Latinos living in the United States — their interests are bound up in voting this year, and I’ll leave it at that, but making sure people turn out is going to be a priority for me, as it was in 2012.”
He said that in 2012 he made videos encouraging turnout, and would do the same this year. “Our issues are on the table, from Puerto Rico to a wall to keep half of us out being a party platform,” he said. “It’s important that we get out and vote.”
Ed. Note: this story was edited without correction. The above excerpt appears in the original but not the current version.
Candidates and Campaigns
Daily Beast: Donald Trump Accused of Using His Charity as a Political Slush Fund
Tim Mak and Andrew Desiderio
On numerous occasions this year, Trump’s campaign work and his foundation work have overlapped—putting himself at risk for penalties and his charity at risk of being shut down.
It’s the latest example of Trump courting controversy: not merely through inflammatory rhetoric, but also through private dealings that raise serious legal questions—all of which indicate how he might govern if elected president of the United States.
Trump is listed as the president of the foundation in the charity’s annual disclosures, and his children Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump are all listed as directors. Foundations like theirs are exempt from paying taxes, and as such are barred from engaging in political causes.
Public Radio International: The new Trump: Trying to raise campaign money
Dave Levinthal, CPI
Consider that last week alone, Team Clinton aired about 3,400 ad spots — mostly eviscerating Trump — on broadcast and national cable television, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of data from media tracking firm Kantar Media/CMAG. The Trump campaign aired no such TV ads at all, while a supportive super PAC managed fewer than 100.
On the other hand, Trump’s turn toward fueling his White House ambitious with cash from special interests and political megadonors undermines what’s been one of his most effective marketing messages: that he’s beholden to no one and can’t be bought because he’s a rich man who’s self-funding his campaign.
The States
WRVO Oswego: Campaign reform advocates protest state Senate Republicans in Syracuse
Ellen Abbott
Joining Public Citizen, members of the Syracuse for Sanders organization spokesman Andy Mager said Sanders supporters, who watched their candidate run without the help of big donors, don’t want that emphasis on campaign reform to wither away.
“We need to build on that momentum and concern that comes from the Sander’s campaign, as well as many other parts o the community to say now is the time to move forward and make democracy meaningful,” Mager said.
