“Steve Bannon used a private jet apparently owned by a wealthy Chinese businessman to fly to events to promote Republican congressional candidates in 2018,” ProPublica reports.
“The previously unreported flights could run afoul of a campaign finance law that bars foreign money from U.S. elections.”
Robert Reich: “Over the last decade, half of all donations to Super PACs came from just 25 people.”
“If this isn’t the mark of a kleptocracy, I don’t know what is.”
Center for Public Integrity: “Senate Republicans want Trump to name a full slate of FEC commissioners to fill three vacancies and replace the remaining three commissioners who have collectively served more than 30 years past the expiration of their six-year terms.”
“But Trump has refused… Bottom line? It’s not inconceivable that Election 2020, with its billions of dollars political actors will spend, will simply be staged without the FEC playing any meaningful law enforcement role.”
“As President Trump raises money for his reelection campaign, he’s competing for cash with a growing mass of pro-Trump PACs, dark money groups and off-brand Facebook advertisers neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Trump’s campaign, which have pulled in over $46 million so far,” Politico reports.
The House Ethics Committee said it is conducting a further probe of Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) after investigators found “substantial reason to believe” she violated campaign finance laws in her upset election victory in 2018, the Boston Globe reports.
“Investigators with the Office of Congressional Ethics found that her husband donated $300,000 to her campaign — far in excess of the $2,700 allowed — and her campaign appears to have ‘intentionally misreported’ the days some donations were made as part of its apparent financial maneuvering.”
The “green wave” of campaign cash that boosted Democrats and liberal causes in 2018 included an unprecedented gusher of secret money, new documents obtained by Politico show.
“The Sixteen Thirty Fund, a little-known nonprofit headquartered in Washington, spent $141 million on more than 100 left-leaning causes during the midterm election year, according to a new tax filing from the group.”
Politico: “The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into Florida GOP Rep. Ross Spano over alleged campaign finance violations. Spano has denied any wrongdoing. The revelation came in an announcement by the House Ethics Committee, which has been asked by DOJ to defer its own probe into Spano while the criminal investigation unfolds. The Ethics Committee traditionally defers to law enforcement agencies while criminal cases are ongoing.”
“Spano, a 53-year-old former Florida state legislator who was first elected to Congress in Nov. 2018, has been under scrutiny for months over funds he loaned his campaign during last year’s race. Spano claimed initially that nearly $175,000 he loaned his campaign came from personal funds. But it was later disclosed that Spano had received $180,000 in loans from personal friends.”
“Rudy Giuliani is being investigated by federal prosecutors for possible campaign finance violations and a failure to register as a foreign agent as part of an active investigation into his financial dealings,” Bloomberg reports.
“The probe of Giuliani, which one official said could also include possible charges on violating laws against bribing foreign officials or conspiracy, presents a serious threat to Trump’s presidency from a man that former national security adviser John Bolton has called a ‘hand grenade.'”
Josh Israel: “A Republican who raised tens of thousands of dollars to run against House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff in California has switched races and will now challenge first-term Texas Democratic Rep. Colin Allred.”
“While campaign finance laws allow federal candidates to change federal races and bring along their campaign war chest, it is unusual for a candidate to move to an entirely different state.”
“A prolific political fundraiser who donated large sums to President Trump’s inaugural committee is expected to plead guilty to federal criminal charges.” the AP reports.
“The Justice Department says Imaad Zuberi will admit in federal court in Los Angeles that he falsified records to conceal his work as a foreign agent while lobbying high-level U.S. government officials.”
“Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign will no longer accept contributions of more than $200 from executives at certain tech companies or financial firms, her latest move to keep big business at bay,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Her new pledge comes after she swore off big fundraisers. It adds to a debate among Democrats about whether the party’s White House nominee can take on President Trump with primarily small contributions.”
Rudy Giuliani reportedly had lunch with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman at Trump International Hotel in Washington yesterday, the same day that they were arrested on campaign-finance charges, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Prosecutors said at a press conference that Parnas and Fruman were attempting to leave the country when they were arrested at Dulles International Airport.
“Two foreign-born donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges of violating campaign finance rules,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Florida businessmen, have been under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, and are expected to appear in federal court in Virginia later on Thursday… The men’s nationalities were unclear, though both were believed to have been born in former Soviet republics.”
USA Today reports both men were scheduled to be deposed this week by the three House committees leading the impeachment probe.
A federal jury found two longtime Democratic operatives guilty of funneling illegal corporate campaign contributions into Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ 2014 U.S. Senate campaign — including former Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan, the father of Grimes — delivering another blow to a significantly weakened Kentucky Democratic Party, the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
“Kansas Republican congressional candidate Amanda Atkins may have skirted federal election law by representing herself as a candidate before filing the appropriate paperwork,” McClatchy reports.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) “argued to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday that filing campaign finance forms is a legislative act — immune from federal prosecution by constitutional separation of powers protections,” the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
“If his argument is successful, the case against him could ultimately be dismissed prior to trial that’s supposed to start Jan. 14 as Hunter prepares to run for re-election in a March primary election.”
Authorities are investigating whether someone stole more than $100,000 from Rep. Steve Chabot’s (R-OH) reelection fund, Roll Call reports.
“A company owned by the wife of Brad Parscale, President Trump’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,” CNN reports.
“Brad Parscale and his wife both insist their arrangement is legitimate and that there is no coordination.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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