CCP
Statement on FEC Commissioner Weintraub’s “Corporate Political Spending and Foreign Influence” Forum
Bradley A. Smith and David Keating
Debates over corporate political activity and foreign involvement in campaigns are rife with myths that could be discussed, debated, and dispelled in an open discussion. Regrettably, this event will deprive its attendees and participants of the opportunity to hear facts, interpretations of evidence, and policy suppositions that might change their views or allow them to strengthen their proposals. In addition, by focusing solely on spending by businesses entities and foreign sources, and ignoring spending by other groups – particularly labor unions, which also pose complex issues concerning political influence, foreign membership, and funding – the Forum further demonstrates its clear partisan tilt. Ultimately, some ideas will go unheard while others will go unchallenged. A one-sided discussion is no discussion at all.
Worse, the event is presented so as to invoke a xenophobic reaction against an ephemeral, and certainly unproven, foreign menace. The event presupposes a problem with “corporate political spending” and “foreign influence” in elections and is intended to create headlines that will mislead the public on an already complex and nuanced issue. This crass political calculus might be standard fare at campaign rallies, party caucuses, and in the halls of Congress, but it has no place at a bipartisan agency tasked with “fairly enforcing and administering Federal campaign finance laws.”
Dangers of Disclosure
CNN: Who’s donating to Trump? This bot will tell you.
Sarah Ashley O’Brien
A Twitter bot named @EveryTrumpDonor is publicizing the names of everyone donating to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Federal Election Commission data is public, but a 31-year-old computer programmer named Adam Kraft said that most aren’t aware of that. Kraft is behind @EveryTrumpDonor, as well as two other politically oriented Twitter bots, @EveryDemDonor and @EveryGOPDonor.
Kraft — who said he’s developed roughly 10 Twitter bots in total — has programmed the bots to spit out the contribution amount along with the donor’s name, location and profession based on FEC data. Each bot tweets about once every 30 minutes.
Independent Groups
Wall Street Journal: Stop-Trump Groups Air Ads Aiming to Unbind Delegates
Reid J. Epstein
The first ads from groups aiming to unbind Republican National Convention delegates are set to air beginning Thursday, marking a new offensive in the effort to strip the GOP nomination away from presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
The ads come as the stop-Trump groups have seen a significant increase in interest, attention and fundraising, according to people involved in the efforts. Though still far from having enough commitments to block a Trump nomination, the groups’ leaders have become regular figures on cable news as Mr. Trump’s campaign has been struck in recent weeks with internal discord and a dismal fundraising report that left him far behind presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The Trump campaign has said Mr. Trump will be the nominee and has dismissed the dissidents’ efforts.
Free Speech
Library of Law and Liberty: The End of the Great Compromise
John Samples
For this reason, the Party of Progress has become the party of maximal campaign-finance regulation. Only by restricting the political activities of the oppressor can government help the oppressed. But egalitarianism suggests more than pragmatic politics. The political speech of the oppressor could not possibly have any legitimacy in a good society. To the contrary, such speech is a barrier to achieving a good society.
The world has changed in two important ways since Carolene Products and Buckley: Progressives are far more electorally vulnerable than they were, and they are far less supportive of according free speech rights to their opponents. Until Antonin Scalia’s death, Progressives lacked the power to act on these two developments. The year 2017 may bring a new Supreme Court majority. That majority will certainly overturn Citizens United. But what of Buckley? The restraints on Congress in Buckley may also be pushed aside in pursuit of the full management of society, including our politics and elections.
If Buckley falls, the Great Compromise will have been completely renounced. We have lived so long with that settlement that we cannot guess what comes next. But the politics to come seem unlikely to be as liberal as the politics we have known.
FEC
Bloomberg BNA: Foreign Campaign Money Subject of FEC Forum
Kenneth P. Doyle
Weintraub added that the forum was “an important first step” to determine if new rules to control foreign campaign money may be needed. She acknowledged, however, that deep divisions among the commissioners have hampered action on a range of issues in the past.
“You don’t lose money betting against action” at the FEC, she said.
The forum is expected to address questions including how to define “foreign money” and how campaign money currently is being tracked, and to assess the role of foreign nationals and corporations in campaign financing. Panelists addressing these issues will include academics, researchers and advocates—virtually all of whom have taken positions favoring stronger campaign finance disclosure regulations.
Political Parties
Washington Post: Republicans: Save your party, don’t give to Trump
George F. Will
In Trump, Republicans have someone whose reputation is continental only in being broadly known. He illustrates Daniel Boorstin’s definition of a celebrity as someone well-known for his well-knownness. It will be wonderful if Trump tries to translate notoriety into fulfillment of his vow — as carefully considered as anything else about his candidacy — to carry New York and California. He should be taunted into putting his meager campaign funds where his ample mouth is. Every dime or day he squanders on those states will contribute to a redemptive outcome, a defeat so humiliating — so continental — that even Republicans will be edified by it.
Trump’s campaign has less cash ($1.3 million) than some congressional candidates have, so Republican donors have never been more important than they are at this moment. They can save their party by not aiding its nominee.
Influence
Washington Free Beacon: Memo Reveals Clinton Foundation Donor’s $100 Million Registration, Turnout Push
Lachlan Markay
The Wyss Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, meaning it cannot finance explicitly political projects. But the group sees opportunities to shift the electorate in ways that advance its policy agenda under a nonpartisan banner.
The foundation did not respond to questions about its funding plan and why its strategy memo ended up in the hands of the Democratic National Committee. It was one of a number of internal documents released by a hacker who claims to have breached the DNC computer network.
Wyss, a Swiss citizen, has donated to numerous federal and state political campaigns despite legal bans on political contributions by foreign nationals. While the law provides exceptions for lawful permanent residents, Wyss revealed in 2014 that he does not have a U.S. green card.
Candidates and Campaigns
CNN: Could lack of money be Trump’s downfall?
Richard L. Hasen
We’ve already seen in the primaries that money cannot make up for otherwise troubled candidacies and that candidates without big money can run somewhat competitive campaigns if they have mass support. The fiasco of Jeb Bush’s campaign illustrates that even with tons of money, advertising cannot get the public to buy a product it doesn’t want…
Trump’s primary campaign relied mainly on personal loans of millions of dollars and free publicity. Already high in name recognition, and prone to outrageous statements, Trump got a huge amount of free media exposure — one study estimated it to be worth $2 billion. By cranking up the outrage and appealing to the Republican base, Trump was able to succeed in the primaries despite being outspent by rivals.
Bloomberg: Pay Candidates to Drop Out? That Should Be Legal
Stephen L. Carter
Of course there may be an optimum number of candidates, and having too many can distort the normal flow of information to voters, as seems to have happened to the Republicans this cycle. But nobody knows what the optimum number is, so there is no reason for the state to prohibit such bargains and thereby remove the implicit subsidy. The same reasoning would seem to apply to paying a candidate, even the front-runner, to drop out.
Vox: Bernie Sanders: “It doesn’t appear that I’m going to be the nominee”
Andrew Prokop
But Sanders appears to think that as soon as he gives up either of those things, he’ll lose whatever leverage he still has to push the party in a more progressive direction.
So here’s his strategy: be conciliatory toward Clinton, stop his attacks on her, and make clear they’re on the same team — while also trying to win whatever commitments from her on the platform and her own policies that he can manage to get. Here’s what he said about Clinton in his speech last week:
Washington Post: Marco Rubio will seek Senate reelection, reversing pledge not to run
Mike DeBonis, Ed O’Keefe, and Sean Sullivan
“I think it moves Florida from a likely loss to an almost certain pickup, and so it’s not only important to Florida, it has a huge impact on our ability to hold the majority,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who played a leading role in persuading Rubio to run, said on Wednesday.
Josh Holmes, a political consultant who is close to McConnell, said Rubio’s decision will allow national Republican groups to shift resources to other competitive races across the country.
The States
WWLP Springfield: House backs new top donor disclosure rules, special election fundraising limits
Katie Lannan
Rep. John Mahoney, a Worcester Democrat who chairs the Election Laws Committee, said the requirement would build on a law passed last session mandating the disclosure of top donors on television and print ads.
“This captures many organizations that previously evaded disclosure and will allow voters to have a better understanding of the voices behind the advertisements that they receive in their mailboxes and the signs they see on the road,” Mahoney said. “Here in our commonwealth we must do what we can to bring transparency to where the money funding elections is coming from.”
Prescott Daily Courier: Dark money bills latest sign of ‘zombie’ apocalypse
Toni Denis
Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, is leading a campaign to stop the Dark Money bills with a citizen’s referendum that will require 75,321 signatures by Aug. 15 to get on the ballot. This is not specifically a partisan issue — Democrats are taking Dark Money, too. Rather, it’s an issue of staggering ethical concern. Every single voter will be impacted if it is allowed to stand. Effectively, elections in Arizona could be bought by the highest bidder.
