In the News
Capital Research Center: For the People Act (H.R. 1): Congress Recycling Bad Ideas from 2019
In the past week, two groups sent letters to Democratic and Republican congressional leaders condemning the ridiculously named For the People Act (H.R. 1 and S. 1) as a direct assault on fundamental freedoms protected by the First Amendment…
For more on H.R. 1 and S. 1, see the resource guide provided by the Institute for Free Speech.
The two letters are reproduced below.
Congress
Billings Gazette: Tester revives ‘Spotlight Act’ on dark money
By Tom Lutey
U.S. Sen Jon Tester is taking another shot at forcing nonprofits to reveal their large “dark money” donors.
The Montana Democrat reintroduced the “Spotlight Act” on Wednesday. The bill would require nonprofits to reveal their major donors to the IRS…
Tester frames the issue of nonprofits needing to disclose donors to the IRS as the government needing to know whether foreign governments and other bad international actors are secretly shaping the issues that dominate U.S. elections, including issues that are extremely divisive.
The Spotlight Act has been introduced twice before, the first time in 2018 after then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the IRS to stop requiring nonprofits to identify their major donors. Mnuchin argued that donor information was irrelevant to the IRS…
The 2018 bill passed the Senate, but went nowhere in the House. Tester and Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, introduced the bill again in January 2019. That time the bill was assigned to the Senate Finance Committee, but went nowhere.
This time, with Democrats in control of the Senate, Wyden is chairman of Senate Finance. Tester likes the bill’s chances of clearing the Senate and reaching a House chamber, also controlled by Democrats.
The Hill: Donor privacy: A civil rights lesson Democrats should remember
By Howard Husock
No issue or accomplishment is more central to the contemporary Democratic Party’s self-identity than civil rights…
This makes it all the more difficult to understand why Democrats – who now control both chambers of Congress for the first time in six years – would make what they’re terming “democracy reform,” specifically H.R. 1, their agenda-setting legislation for the new Congress. In one provision of the bill, Democrats turn their backs on a key U.S. Supreme Court decision of the civil rights era: the right for charitable donors to avoid racial violence by not being forced to reveal their names…
Yet, today, with H.R. 1, we see Democrats abandoning the Alabama precedent by requiring the names of donors involved in political advocacy to be made public in the same fashion as direct campaign donors. The scope of the proposal appears to be narrow, focusing on political action committees and so-called “dark money,” but these donors need protection as much as anyone else…
H.R. 1 does tip its cap to the possibility of threats against donors, saying donations could be private “if the inclusion of the information would subject the person to serious threats, harassment, or reprisals.” But as the Chicago law firm Wagenmaker and Oberly, which specializes in nonprofit law, has noted: “H.R. 1 contains no guidance or other language to determine how this exception should be interpreted or applied. For that reason, such exception may be defined based on experience of actual threats and reprisals. In other words … too late.”
CNBC: The Senate Finance Committee is gearing up to take on billionaires and dark money groups, Wyden says
By Brian Schwartz
Democrats running the powerful Senate Finance Committee are preparing to take on the uber-wealthy, dark money groups and special interest organizations now that their party has taken control of Congress.
The chairman of the committee, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., detailed his priorities to CNBC on Thursday, the day after he officially took over leadership of the panel…
The panel will take a close look at the tax-exempt nonprofit organizations that organized the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally that led to the deadly insurrection on Capitol Hill, Wyden said.
Just prior to becoming finance chairman, Wyden sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig and called on him to investigate what role, if any, these groups played in the riot…
Wyden said the IRS has informed him that it is reviewing his request…
When asked whether he plans to call on Rettig to testify in front of the committee, Wyden didn’t rule it out. “We’re going to be looking at a host of issues that we are going to want the IRS on the record on,” he said.
The Hill: Democrat warns tech companies to ‘step up in big way’ or risk Section 230 changes
By Rebecca Klar
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) warned tech companies on Thursday to take greater action on content moderation or risk changes to a landmark law that provides the companies a legal liability shield over content posted on their platforms by third parties.
“It’s obvious that [Section] 230 we’ll look at,” Thompson said, referring to the law during a hearing on the threat of domestic terrorism. “If the companies don’t assume the interest in policing their own platforms, then you leave government no choice.”
“So for those companies that might be listening to this hearing, it’s absolutely essential that they step up in a big way, because obviously from a question and responses there’s interest on the right and left – Democrat and Republican – that we have to look at it. And I assure you as chair we will,” he added.
FARA
Politico: Former Mueller prosecutor predicts increased pursuit of unregistered foreign agents
By Caitlin Oprysko and Josh Gerstein
The Justice Department official who spearheaded the department’s crackdown on unregistered foreign agents praised the department’s tougher approach to enforcing the Foreign Agent Registration Act and predicted that DOJ will continue the crackdown under the Biden administration.
“It is clear that this incoming Justice Department remains very focused on addressing the issues pertaining to covert and malign foreign influence, and that they have every intention to continue to robustly enforce FARA,” Brandon Van Grack, who recently stepped down from his post as the chief of the revamped FARA office, said in an interview. “Probably you’re dealing with a FARA unit that is more, better staffed, than it has been probably in my lifetime.”
FEC
Regulatory Review: A Vision for a Federal Election Agency
By Hannah Leibson
The United States needs a single, centralized, independent agency to streamline the administration of federal elections, election scholars Lee Drutman and Charlotte Hill argue in a recent paper.
They favor the creation of a new federal election agency that would assume the responsibilities of the two current federal agencies with primary responsibility for regulating federal elections: the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Drutman and Hill explain how gridlock has plagued both of these agencies in recent years, exposing the shortcomings of the current regulatory structure…
Drutman and Hill propose choosing five independent commissioners to lead the new agency, with a requirement that each commissioner be unaffiliated with any political party over the last five years. This would mitigate the politicization of the FEC and EAC commissioner selection processes…
Drutman and Hill acknowledge that, like other federal agencies, their proposed agency could be susceptible to partisan politics. They suggest that appointed commissioners should have a “long track record of nonpartisanship and expertise in election administration,” unlike the current commissioners-who are chosen in part based on their party affiliation.
Online Speech Platforms
Wall Street Journal: YouTube Cancels the U.S. Senate
By Ron Johnson
Google’s YouTube has ratcheted up censorship to a new level by removing two videos from a U.S. Senate committee. They were from a Dec. 8 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on early treatment of Covid-19. One was a 30-minute summary; the other was the opening statement of critical-care specialist Pierre Kory.
Dr. Kory is part of a world-renowned group of physicians who developed a groundbreaking use of corticosteroids to treat hospitalized Covid patients. His testimony at a May Senate hearing helped doctors rethink treatment protocols and saved lives…
The censors at YouTube have decided for all of us that the American public shouldn’t be able to hear what senators heard. Apparently they are smarter than medical doctors who have devoted their lives to science and use their skills to save lives. They have decided there is only one medical viewpoint allowed, and it is the viewpoint dictated by government agencies. Government-sanctioned censorship of ideas and speech should frighten us all.
Candidates and Campaigns
Center for Responsive Politics: Small donors ruled 2020; will that change post-Trump?
By Krystal Hur
About $378.1 million – nearly half – of Trump’s 2020 donations came from small individual contributions. Trump’s allies in Congress such as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) received a significant portion of their campaign donations from small donors in 2020, raking in $3.8 million and $6.2 million, respectively…
Paul Herrnson, professor at the University of Connecticut and fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics, said the influx of GOP small donors in the 2020 election – brought on by the high-interest, high-stakes nature of the election and ease with which political campaigns could reach donors online – will likely continue. But the number of donors who continue to contribute depends on a number of factors, he said.
“If [Trump] runs, a lot of those people will be motivated to give again,” Herrnson said. “If he doesn’t run, there’ll be some that’ll be motivated to give to like-minded candidates, particularly if he endorses them and becomes part of their … brand that’s associated with their solicitations.”
Corroborating Herrnson’s statement, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had his best fundraising period while backing Trump’s election challenge, raising $969,000 in January according to Axios.
Center for Responsive Politics: Controversy brings small donor success for Marjorie Taylor Greene
By Karl Evers-Hillstrom
Without committees to serve on, [Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s] legislating power in Congress will be limited. But she’s more popular than ever with grassroots donors. Late last month, Greene said she’d raised $1.6 million amid the media’s coverage of her controversial comments.
Greene said she raised $150,000 on Tuesday and $175,000 on Wednesday as calls to remove her from committees grew louder. While Green apologized for her comments in private, she showed no remorse in a flurry of fundraising emails asking supporters for campaign cash…
Greene raked in campaign cash from bite-sized donors as she baselessly claimed the election was stolen from Trump. According to recent Federal Election Commission filings covering Nov. 24 to Dec. 31, Greene raised 91 percent of her roughly $232,000 haul from small donors. That’s an almost unprecedented figure for any member of Congress, let alone a lawmaker representing a noncompetitive district.
Denver Post: Rep. Lauren Boebert’s mileage reimbursement “raises red flags,” ethics experts say
By Justin Wingerter
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert paid herself more than $22,000 in mileage reimbursements from her campaign account last year. Boebert’s campaign defends the reimbursements but three ethics experts who reviewed the money transfers for The Denver Post say they raise questions…
To justify those reimbursements, Boebert would have had to drive 38,712 miles while campaigning, despite having no publicly advertised campaign events in March, April or July, and only one in May. Furthermore, because the reimbursements came in two payments – a modest $1,060 at the end of March and $21,200 on Nov. 11 – Boebert would have had to drive 36,870 miles in just over seven months between April 1 and Nov. 11 to justify the second payment…
Boebert’s reimbursements to herself in one year eclipse her predecessor’s reimbursements over 10 years. Republican Rep. Scott Tipton reimbursed himself $9,797 from campaign coffers for all travel expenses – including airfare – during a decade representing the same district. He also reimbursed himself $9,575 from his office account for mileage in that time period.
Salon: Mark Meadows is the only person ever to spend campaign funds on the Secret Service
By Roger Sollenberger
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in December became the first and only person in recorded campaign finance history to report an expense related to the U.S. Secret Service, according to his leadership PAC’s year-end filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The report, which Freedom First PAC’s treasurer Collin McMichael submitted over the weekend, notes two Dec. 7 payments designated for “Food/Beverage for PAC Reception Honoring Secret Service Members.” The PAC, an extension of Meadows’ campaign committee, made the disbursements, both for around $250, to Costco headquarters and a Walmart in Hendersonville, North Carolina, home to Meadows’ former congressional district office.
A search of FEC records shows that before this, exactly zero political committees in recorded history have ever designated expenses related to the Secret Service. Because one of Meadows’ two payments went to a Walmart in his hometown, it’s possible that the event honored the detail that guarded Meadows during his nine months in the top White House job. If that is the case, the payments might violate the federal prohibition against the personal use of campaign funds.
Salon reported on Wednesday that the PAC’s year-end filing suggests that the FEC may already be investigating Meadows for personal use violations.
The States
Associated Press: Democrats outspent GOP 2-1 in failed bid to take Legislature
Democrats outspent Republicans more than 2-to-1 in the battle for control of the Minnesota Legislature but came up short.
Overall, Democratic candidates and outside groups spent more than $16 million in their unsuccessful attempt to retake control of the Senate from Republicans, who spent just $7.7 million defending their one-vote majority, according to campaign spending reports released Tuesday, Minnesota Public Radio reported…
“Money doesn’t guarantee success at all,” Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin told the Star Tribune…
Democrats kept their majority in the Minnesota House, but lost five seats despite spending $9.1 million to $4.5 million for the GOP.
“Despite being massively outspent, we held every Republican seat, picked up seats in the suburbs, knocked off longtime Democrat incumbents, and made historic gains on the Iron Range,” House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt told the Star Tribune.
Most spending on legislative races didn’t come from the candidates themselves, who are subject to fairly strict campaign finance regulations, but from political parties and interest groups.
Detroit News: Michigan GOP chair claims Weiser made ‘secret deal’ to pay for exit of candidate
By Craig Mauger
Ron Weiser, who’s poised to return as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, is now facing a claim of brokering a “secret deal” that involved paying a former secretary of state candidate $200,000 in undisclosed GOP funds.
In a development that could alter the future of state Republican politics two days before the chair election Saturday, current party Chairwoman Laura Cox sent an email to activists Thursday morning, revealing her concerns about the payments. In the message, Cox said Stanley Grot of Shelby Township received the money “so he would withdraw as a candidate for secretary of state” in August 2018 while Weiser was chairman.
Grot labeled the allegation “nonsense” and said Thursday he was paid for work he did for the party. In a Facebook post, Weiser called the claim “baseless allegations” and “a desperate attempt to smear my name, based on a longstanding political grudge.”
But the situation raises ethical concerns about Weiser, who is also a University of Michigan regent, and the potential of violations of Michigan campaign finance law, Cox wrote in a letter addressed to GOP “activists.”
Pew: Republicans Respond to Black Lives Matter with Anti-Protest Bills
By Sophie Quinton
Genee Tinsley helped organize rallies and marches in Palm Beach County, Florida, last summer to protest police brutality, demand racial justice and call for redirecting some police funding to social services.
Now she’s organizing an online forum to teach people about a Florida bill that would increase penalties for unlawful activity during a protest. The bill could give law enforcement broad discretion to declare a gathering a “riot” and charge participants with a felony crime.
The bill also would make it harder for cities to cut police funding and prevent protesters from suing for damages if they’re injured by a counter-protester.
“For me, it’s like they’re silencing protesters,” Tinsley said, “specifically Black and brown people.” Tinsley said the protests her organization, Freedom Fighters for Justice, organized this summer were peaceful…
Republican legislators in Florida and 21 other states are considering tough new penalties for protesters who break laws. As in Florida, some of the bills also would prevent localities from cutting police budgets and give some legal protection to people who injure protesters…
Civil rights groups and Democrats, however, say the bills would chill First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly and could be used by police to disproportionately arrest and charge people of color.
