Campaign Finance

WASHINGTON — Political Consultant Jesse Benton was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for his role in funneling illegal foreign campaign contributions from a Russian national to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. According to court documents, Benton, a Philadelphia,... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission has updated its contribution limits, indexed for inflation, for the upcoming federal elections in 2023 and 2024. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act, included a number of... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission last week flagged a number of issues with reported contributions made to embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., who has come under scrutiny for sweeping lies he’s told about his personal life and career. In... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission is seeking public comment on its policies and procedures for auditing political committees that do not receive public funds. Typically, when a non–publicly funded political committee’s disclosure reports indicate it has not met the... Read More

WASHINGTON — A firm hoping to design and market NFTs to political committees under the same terms and conditions it applies to nonpolitical clients won’t run afoul of prohibitions on corporate contributions, the Federal Election Commission has determined. DataVault, a... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission is seeking public comment of proposed changes to regulations it is considering regarding candidate compensation from campaign funds. Currently, the Federal Election Campaign Act prohibits principal campaign committees from converting campaign funds to personal... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., can use campaign funds to pay for the cost of reasonable cybersecurity measures to protect her home network, the Federal Election Commission announced on Friday. The decision came in response to an advisory opinion... Read More

WASHINGTON — Short code text messages containing links to “split-it” fundraising pages are not subject to joint fundraising rules under the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Federal Elections Commission has held. The determination came in response to a request for... Read More

WASHINGTON — An authorized campaign committee can reinstate and repay candidate loans it previously converted to candidate contributions, the Federal Election Commission said on Tuesday. The announcement, in a decision of a case involving Harley Rouda, a 2018 candidate in... Read More

WASHINGTON — The president and treasurer of a super PAC active in a Puerto Rican election in 2020 was sentenced today to 14 months in prison for scheming to lie to the Federal Election Commission about the true identities of... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission asked a federal judge on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit loyal to former President Donald Trump that accused the agency of violating the Administrative Procedures Act. The 45Committee Inc., sued... Read More

BOSTON — Attorney General Maura Healey is winning fundraising in the Bay State. She has $5.4 million on hand for her bid to be governor, according to her June financial disclosure. That’s millions ahead of the two Republicans who are... Read More

WASHINGTON — Trouble with a longtime “caging” vendor has the Democratic National Committee and its senatorial campaign arm asking the Federal Election Commission whether they can retain and use contributions deposited after the 10-day deadline mandated by agency regulation. In... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has asked the Federal Election Commission for clarification on its rules regarding the use of campaign funds to pay for child care expenses incurred by a candidate. Swalwell, who currently represents California's 15th Congressional... Read More

WASHINGTON  —  Sen. Ted Cruz. R-Texas, has prevailed in his Supreme Court challenge to a provision of federal campaign law, but in dissent at least one justice believes the ruling "can only bring this country's political system into further disrepute."... Read More

WASHINGTON — A congressman’s use of campaign funds to install a locking steel security gate around his Florida home after he received a series of death threats would not violate federal campaign finance laws, the Federal Election Commission said last... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Millionaire candidates and billionaire investors are harnessing their considerable personal wealth to try to win competitive Republican primaries for open U.S. Senate seats in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Mike Gibbons, an Ohio investment banker, leads the pack... Read More

WASHINGTON — The campaign committee for Senate Democrats has asked the Federal Election Commission to appraise the value of a “research book” it wants to provide to two Democratic candidates to aid in their bids to unseat an incumbent Republican... Read More

ATLANTA — A federal judge on Thursday ruled that a fundraising committee affiliated with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams can’t begin raising unlimited campaign contributions. The ruling is based on a state law passed last year that allows Georgia lawmakers... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin surrendered to authorities on Tuesday after being charged with bribery, fraud, conspiracy and falsification of records in a federal corruption investigation.  Benjamin was accused in the indictment of participating in a... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission for its failure to act on a campaign spending disclosure complaint made against the campaign committee of former President Donald Trump. The CLC filed its complaint... Read More

WASHINGTON — Nebraska’s longest-serving member of Congress was convicted Thursday of concealing illegal campaign contributions received from a Nigerian billionaire. The jury in Los Angeles decided that on at least two occasions Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry lied to FBI agents... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. W. Gregory Steube, R-Fla., has asked the Federal Election Commission for an advisory opinion on whether members of Congress can use campaign funds to protect their homes, up to and including paying for a locking security gate,... Read More

WASHINGTON — The recently updated Campaign Guide for Congressional Candidates and Committees is now available in print, the Federal Election Commission announced Wednesday. The new guide is intended to provide an overall summary of the federal campaign finance laws that... Read More

LOS ANGELES — GLAAD, the nation’s leading LGBTQ advocacy organization, plans to begin grading film studios on political donations and public advocacy beginning in the 2022 election cycle in response to what the group sees as corporate inaction around anti-LGBTQ... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Elections Commission has established coordinated party expenditure limits for the 2022 election cycle. By law, a national party committee and state party committees can make special expenditures in connection with the general election campaigns of federal... Read More

WASHINGTON — A prospective political candidate’s disability benefits do not constitute earned income under the Federal Election Campaign Act and therefore cannot be used by his principal campaign committee in salary calculations. Matthew Hoh, a Marine Corps combat veteran, has... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Ted Cruz for Senate’s First Amendment challenge to a key campaign finance law should be tossed by the Supreme Court as the campaign committee’s alleged injuries were self-inflicted, the U.S. solicitor general claimed in a court filing... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider whether a Federal Election Commission limit on the amount campaigns can use of post-election contributions to repay debts they owe to the candidates themselves violates the free speech clause of the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Elections Commissions failed to act on an administrative complaint from the Campaign Legal Center in a timely fashion and must now resolve the matter within the next 30 days, a federal court ruled Thursday. The ruling... Read More