Latest Developments:
- The Commissioner of Canada Elections announced compliance agreements with two corporations that agreed to pay fines of nearly $450,000, a fine that represents three times the amount of illegal contributions made by these corporations in addition to the cost of the investigation. According to Global News, the corporations, which are prohibited from contributing directly in Canadian elections, asked employees to make contributions and reimbursed them through personal expense claims.
- The Governor of Montana is being sued by the Illinois Opportunity Project. The lawsuit seeks to block the Governor’s Executive Order, which requires disclosure of government contractor’s contributions in the case of a “contract value of over $25,000 for services or $50,000 for goods.” According to the Great Falls Tribune, the group believes that “(p)rivacy in advocacy is especially important for people with unpopular and minority views.”
Reminder:
- The American Conference Institute presents the National Forum on the Foreign Agents Registrations Act on September 25, 2019 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. Join Jason Kaune of Nielsen Merksamer, who is participating on a panel about “FARA Prosecutions in Practice: How Practitioners are Approaching the Toughest, Most Critical Decisions in the Wake of Recent, High Profile Cases.” Use Code S10-655-655D20.S and receive a 10% discount. To sign up, use the following link: National Forum on FARA.
In Case You Missed It:
- Be Sure to File Your Reports: An unsuccessful 2010 candidate for the Rhode House of Representatives who raised $50 and filed one report “owed a whopping $118,120 in fines for failing to file his campaign finance forms on time,” according to the Boston Globe. Given that he never closed his account and never filed any further reports, the former candidate racked up fines of $2 per day for every report missed since 2010. At a hearing on the matter, the Board of Elections lowered the fine to $610, which represented “the amount the board spent on mailing, labor, and issuing subpoenas.”
- Some Lobbyist Money is OK: The Associated Press reports that Joe Biden has attended fundraisers at lobbyist’s homes, despite a pledge to “reject campaign cash from lobbyists.” According to the article, “excluded from Biden’s pledge are lobbyists who work at the state level and those who lobby, or supervise lobbyists, but do not meet the legal threshold requiring them to register.” His ban on lobbyist contributions applies only to registered federal lobbyists; he has accepted contributions from employees of federal lobbying firms who are not registered.
- Speaking Fees and Campaign Activities Blurred: Presidential candidate Andrew Yang accepted speaking fees from corporations after announcing his candidacy, according to ABC News. Corporations may not contribute to candidates, but candidates may be permitted to accept fees for speeches independent from their campaign. The network reports that the opening slide on his PowerPoint presentation included his campaign logo, but Yang contends the speech addressed issues discussed in his book.
- Married, but not Coordinating: CNN reports that the company of the President’s campaign manager has “received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the President’s flagship political action committee, which is barred from coordinating with the campaign.” His wife says she just does “payroll and invoicing,” but is the only person listed on the incorporation documents of Red State Data and Digital. However, the campaign manager asserts that he is the sole owner. Regardless, the PAC insists that it “strictly complies with FEC rules and regulations and any suggestion otherwise is patently false.”
- It Pays to Play in School: A Southern California school board member received more than $16,000 in donations from a PAC whose principal officer and major donors received contracts from the school board, according to the Whittier Daily News. One no-bid contract was narrowly approved on a 3-2 vote, in which the new contract increased by $39,000 over the prior year’s $57,000 contract. Other contracts were also approved by a 3-2 vote with the recipient school board member casting the deciding vote. The article notes that, “Under California state law, (the board member) is not barred from voting on contracts involving companies that donate to a PAC or contracts involving a PAC’s principal officer.”
- Memorial Campaign Donations: The Allentown Morning Call reports that a recent obituary asked for campaign contributions for the decedent’s son, “in lieu of flowers.” The son is running for District Attorney. The paper notes that it is not unprecedented and it’s not illegal if properly reported when done in coordination with a campaign.
- Not Guilty: According to Politico, former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig was found not guilty of deceiving federal authorities about his activities representing a foreign government. Craig had prepared a report about the prosecution of a former Ukrainian Prime Minister and provided it to a journalist. The Department of Justice alleged Craig’s distribution of the report was part of a media strategy for his foreign clients that would have required him to register as a foreign agent, disputing Craig’s representations to investigators that the journalist requested the report and that he distributed it to prevent its conclusions from being mischaracterized by the Ukrainians.