Corruption
Reason: De Blasio Campaign Finance Scandal Illustrates Root of Money in Politics Problem
Ed Krayewski
The apparent relationship between de Blasio’s city government and Dussich and his company reveal a pernicious aspect of money in politics often omitted in critiques of campaign finance that seek to limit the free speech end of the transaction. If Dussich wanted to spend $100,000 to advocate for the election of de Blasio, or even to spend it on a “non-profit” as he did, he ought to be free to do so without fear of legal repercussion.
Reducing the influence of money on politics requires limiting the government’s ability to spend other people’s money, not limiting people’s ability to spend their own. The 2016 election is littered with examples (Jeb!) of well-funded campaigns going nowhere or stumbling against smaller ones. Fearmongering over the amounts of money Americans spend to participate in political speech shifts attention away from the kinds of government spending (most of it) that provides the opportunity for types like de Blasio and his various hangers-on to profit off government, with or without any additional influence.
Independent Groups
Washington Post: Billionaires lining up for Trump aren’t sure where to send their money
Matea Gold
The dynamic has triggered a rush to identify the right organization to harness Trump’s rich allies and run a sophisticated independent campaign. Two rival super PACs are in the mix, but both are newly formed and are viewed with skepticism by major donors and their advisers.
The free-for-all environment alarms veteran party strategists who have recently signed on to try to help Trump win the White House.
National Review: In Koch World ‘Realignment,’ Less National Politics
Tim Alberta and Eliana Johnson
Concerned about the damage being done to their corporate brand, increasingly bothered by their public vilification, and convinced after Republicans’ 2014 Senate takeover that even significant victories were having a negligible impact on federal policymaking, the Kochs began signaling to their closest allies that they were reevaluating their approach to politics. They had always believed that building the intellectual foundation for libertarian ideas in think tanks and universities — and supporting important public-policy initiatives at the state and local levels — paid greater long-term dividends than spending on elections. And more and more, they worried that campaigns could actually prove detrimental to their educational and advocacy work. The Kochs’ corporate associates and public-relations team had warned them their involvement in politics could sully their legacies, and now they were beginning to agree.
Washington Post: The blurry line between political fundraising and political scams, explained
Philip Bump
There’s nothing illegal about this. The Federal Elections Commission even cleared several groups of even more explicit wrongdoing after their activity in the same cycle. That year, a number of groups set up websites that appeared to be supporting Allen West’s Florida House bid, but which used little of the money they raised to that end. The groups included disclaimers distancing themselves from the campaign which, though small and not easy to notice, gave them enough cover to avoid censure from the FEC.
Prominent conservative Erick Erickson expressed his frustration about the practice shortly after the cycle.
“The professional right has turned a mailing list habit into a mailing list addiction. Like drug addicts wanting one more hit before going straight, they send out one last mail piece demanding money to help Allen West. But now, like going from cocaine to crack, they spam your email inbox too demanding your immediate defense of Allen West, Rand Paul, etc.”
Washington Post: Building trade unions denounce labor partnership with billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer
Matea Gold
In letters delivered Monday to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the presidents of eight building trade organizations called on the AFL-CIO to cut ties with Steyer, whose opposition to an extension of the Keystone XL Pipeline infuriated unions that had championed the jobs that the oil pipeline would have created.
“A growing trend within the federation seems to consistently minimize the importance of building trades jobs and our members’ livelihoods in the pursuit of a coalition strategy with outside organizations that has produced mixed results at best and disastrous results at worst for our members and their employment prospects in many instances throughout the country,” the building trade presidents wrote in a letter obtained by The Washington Post.
“The AFL-CIO has now officially become infiltrated by financial and political interests that work in direct conflict to many of our members’— and yes, AFL-CIO dues-paying members’ lives.”
Donor Privacy
The Hill: WSJ editors urge action on bill to end donor disclosure to IRS
Naomi Jagoda
“Sloppy handling of data that includes home addresses threatens donors with potential harassment,” the WSJ editorial board said, adding that IRS officials have said the agency is debating whether the donor information is needed for tax enforcement…
The New York Times’s liberal-leaning editorial board also came out against the bill last month, saying, “Enabling foreigners to join this dark money debacle would be disastrous.”
But the Journal editors said audits could still be conducted to find out if foreign money is being used to influence U.S. politics.
“The real progressive interest in donor disclosure is to use the information as a political weapon,” they said. “Leaked selectively, donor lists suppress the speech of political rivals.”
Daily Signal: Koch-Backed Conservative Group Fights California AG’s Attempt to ‘Chill’ Speech
Josh Siegel
“This effort to chill our right to the First Amendment is critical to what the left’s whole agenda is,” Holden told The Daily Signal in an interview. “They talk about getting big money out of politics, but what they really mean is going after speech and activity they disagree with, made by groups they disagree with.”
On April 21, U.S. District Judge Manuel Real found that Americans for Prosperity, which was founded by Charles and David Koch, does not have to submit to Attorney General Kamala Harris the names and addresses of its donors…
But the legal fight is not over, because Harris intends to challenge the decision with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
FEC
CPI: Death threats directed at elections regulator
Dave Levinthal
Ravel, who in 2015 followed Goodman as FEC chairman, told the Center for Public Integrity that she believes Goodman’s comments contributed to the threats against her.
“He was arguing that I was trying to squelch free speech — I wasn’t — and it put me in an awkward position,” said Ravel, who since joining the FEC in late 2013 has routinely advocated for stronger election rules and enforcement and sometimes antagonized her Republican colleagues whom she’s accused of failing to enforce certain election laws.
“I feel very strongly about the First Amendment and the rights of the press,” Ravel said. “My point is that the Internet has advanced greatly since 2006, and the FEC’s rules about it are, potentially, obsolete. Our role is to talk about them.”
Goodman’s office said the commissioner wasn’t available to be interviewed. But Goodman emailed a statement disavowing threats against her.
“Unfortunately, too many people believe that the way to counter speech with which they disagree is to censor or threaten the speaker,” Goodman wrote. “The appropriate way to challenge an idea one disagrees with is to debate the idea on the merits. Commissioner Ravel’s formidable voice on regulatory issues should not be diminished by inappropriate threats or censorship.”
Disclosure
More Soft Money Hard Law: Disclosure Wars, Continued: Tax Returns
Bob Bauer
There is, of course, always some trade-off, both costs and benefits, in substituting a legal requirement for a norm. in the former case, the candidate does what the candidate must do, and no more, and the information supplied is presumably worth more than the additional test of whether he or she would agree in the absence of the legal requirement to provide it. But sometimes, in politics, there is a much to be gained from letting the candidate make the choice: flout the norm or honor it, and if honoring it, how completely and timely. Certain norms may also serve the interest in transparency in this way, one level deeper.
Political Parties
Politicker NJ: More Soft Money May Mean Less Outside Spending
Jeff Brindle
Political parties and candidates do have a “close and unique relationship.” They should. The parties are broad coalitions of people whose fundamental purpose is to get their candidates elected.
Further, political parties organize government at all levels and provide a guide to voting for the general public. They are accountable, regulated, and disclose their activities.
Placing obstacles between parties and their candidates defies common sense, especially when you have unregulated independent groups raising billions of dollars to influence elections and take control of campaigns away from parties and candidates.
The Media
The Hill: Hillary’s unlikely ally in 2016: The media
Bob Cusack and Ian Swanson
Much of the political media disdain Trump, and that feeling is palpable in green rooms in New York City and Washington, D.C.
The thought of a Trump presidency simply scares political journalists for a number of reasons, including his proposal to “open up” libel laws to make it easier to sue media companies.
Many pundits had to eat their words when they predicted Trump would implode and had no shot at winning the Republican nomination. Now that the celebrity businessman is the presumptive nominee, Trump critics in the media, including some on the right, don’t want him to win in November.
It’s not unusual for Republicans to feel slighted by political reporters, most of whom vote Democratic in presidential election years. In a 1992 survey of Washington-based journalists, 89 percent said they voted for Bill Clinton, while 7 percent backed George H.W. Bush and 2 percent supported Ross Perot..
Influence
Politico: Bon Jovi to headline Clinton fundraiser in Boston
Lauren Dezenski
Tickets for what’s being billed as a “Summer Celebration with Hillary with a special performance by Jon Bon Jovi” range from $2,700 for two parents and children under 16 with premium seats to $1,000 for “fighter” tickets with premium seats, $500 for general admission “advocate” seats, and $250 for limited availability “supporter” seats. The $45 young professional tickets are already sold out, according to a link to an invitation obtained by POLITICO Massachusetts.
Washington Post: Inside the GOP effort to draft an independent candidate to derail Trump
Philip Rucker and Robert Costa
A band of exasperated Republicans — including 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a handful of veteran consultants and members of the conservative intelligentsia — is actively plotting to draft an independent presidential candidate who could keep Donald Trump from the White House.
These GOP figures are commissioning private polling, lining up major funding sources and courting potential contenders, according to interviews with more than a dozen Republicans involved in the discussions. The effort has been sporadic all spring but has intensified significantly in the 10 days since Trump effectively locked up the Republican nomination.
The States
Great Falls Tribune: Judge to decide contribution limits lawsuit without trial
Associated Press
U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell signed an order Monday canceling a bench trial that had been scheduled for next week. He will decide the case based on briefs and arguments by the state and attorneys for the plaintiffs.
Those plaintiffs are individuals, businesses and political parties seeking to strike Montana’s contribution limits before the June 7 primary elections. They claim the limits restrict freedom of speech, association and candidates’ ability to raise enough money to effectively campaign.
