Latest Developments:
- The Supreme Court of the United States, on Monday Nov. 9th, refused to grant cert to a case “challenging the legality of super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money in support of political candidates.” According to The Hill, “[t]he court did not explain its decision or indicate how many of the justices would have taken up the case.” The case was originally filed in 2016 by three bipartisan members of Congress. The FEC provides the relevant case law and history here.
- Alaska Voters defeated Measure 2, by a vote of 56% to 44%. That measure would have, among other things, required disclosure of the original source and any intermediaries of contributions to independent expenditure committees over $2,000 in the aggregate during a calendar year.
- Oklahoma City voters approved Proposition 9, which rewrote the city charter limitations on gifts from certain transportation providers and utilities. The ballot measure was approved by 70% of the voters. The measure (see p. 12) updated a charter provision last amended in 1957.
In Case You Missed It:
- Transition Team Revolving Door: The Wall Street Journal accounts that, as of November 11th, some “40 people serving on President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team are or were once registered lobbyists,” despite the reported President-elect’s promises to the contrary. Five of these people are currently registered as lobbyists. The Journal reports that the transition team’s “ethics rules don’t impose a blanket ban on lobbyists, but they require individuals who are registered lobbyists, or have registered as lobbyists within the past year, to get approval from the transition’s general counsel to serve on the team,” which have thus far been granted by the dozen.
- Complaints Up: The Los Angeles Times reports that complaints about campaign law violations in California were sharply up in the period just before the election compared to the 2016 election. According to the article, the “state Fair Political Practices Commission received 445 complaints of campaign finance violations and other offenses from Oct. 1 through election day, compared with 307 in the five weeks leading up to the Nov. 8, 2016, election. The agency said it has so far opened investigations into 112 of the complaints filed in recent weeks.”
- Foreign National no-no Campaign Contributions: Fox 5 San Diego reports that an appeals court has sentenced foreign national Ravneet Singh to one year in prison for making an illegal campaign contribution. Singh was convinced in 2016 “for conspiring with a Mexican billionaire to make nearly $600,000 in illegal campaign contributions to a pair of 2012 San Diego mayoral candidates.” The judgement, which also includes a $10,000 fine, represents a re-sentencing as the appeals court also invalidated a related conviction this week. Essential Ethics covered this story in previous weeks so take a look at past issues for a more complete picture!
- Personal Use: A former member of the Missouri House of Representatives pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from personal use of campaign funds. The Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the former representative spent nearly $50,000 on personal expenses, “including for apartment rent, utilities, hotel, airfare and travel expenses and to cover bills at restaurants and bars.”
- Cincinnati Red-hot Bribery: The FBI arrested Cincinnati council member Jeff Pastor this week for what is called “brazen bribery,” accepting payments from developers for payments. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Pastor “began soliciting money from developers within months of taking office and, in some instances, accepted bags of cash in return for his vote or other favorable treatment.”