NY Republican State Committee v. SEC: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Amici Brief of CLC & Democracy 21 in Support of the FEC and in Opposition to NY Republican State Committee's Motion for Preliminary Injunction

The SEC regulations challenged here are based on a simple proposition. Large campaign contributions from an investment advisor to state entities from which the advisor seeks business are likely to give rise to quid pro quo exchanges, or at a minimum, the appearance of such exchanges. That is the premise not only of the challenged Rule, but also of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) Rule G-37, which was upheld by the D.C. Circuit in Blount v. SEC, 61 F.3d 938 (D.C. Cir. 1995), as well as of numerous federal, state and municipal laws regulating political activities by governmental contractors.