June 3, 2013 -  Watchdog Groups Urge House Committee to Investigate Failure of IRS to Enforce the Tax Laws

In a letter sent today to the House Ways and Means Committee, the Campaign Legal Center joined Democracy 21 in urging the Committee to examine the failure of the IRS to properly enforce the tax laws against groups improperly claiming to be “social welfare” organizations under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. The nonprofit tax status has been widely abused by groups that have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the last two election cycles in an attempt to elect or defeat candidates for federal office.

June 3, 2013 - Reform Groups Call on House Administration Committee to Reject Efforts to Repeal Presidential Public Financing, Election Assistance Commission  

In a letter sent today to members of the House Administration Committee, reform groups called on the Committee to oppose legislation to repeal the presidential public financing system and the financing system for conventions. The letter also urged the Committee to oppose proposed legislation to repeal the Election Assistance Commission. 

May 31, 2013 - Bailouts of Covered Jurisdictions Continue As Supreme Court Considers Voting Rights Act Challenge

This week additional jurisdictions continued to move forward with bailouts from the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a challenge to the constitutionality of those provisions.  Yesterday, a three-judge court in Washington, DC approved a final consent decree exempting the City of Falls Church, Virginia (along with the Falls Church City Public School District) from the Act’s preclearance provisions.  Today, the Justice Department also announced that it had reached agreement on a bailout with Yuba County Water Agency in California and submitted a proposed consent decree for approval to a three-judge court in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

May 30, 2013 - Watchdog Groups Warn House Committee Not to Prevent or Undermine Proper Enforcement of Tax Laws Against 501(c)(4) Abusers

The Campaign Legal Center joined Democracy 21 today in urging the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, not to undermine the IRS’s ability to enforce existing tax laws as they seek to address the agency’s targeting of certain groups filing for 501(c)(4) tax status.

May 23, 2013 - Watchdog Groups Send Treasury IG Previous Requests Urging IRS Action Against Groups Improperly Claiming 501(c)(4) Tax Status

In a letter sent today to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Democracy 21, joined by the Campaign Legal Center, forwarded fifteen letters that the watchdog groups had sent to the IRS beginning in October 2010 urging IRS action against groups improperly claiming 501(c)(4) tax status and calling for a rulemaking proceeding.

May 22, 2013 - Reform Groups Call on Congress to Deal with Two IRS Scandals:  Wrongful Targeting of Groups & Failure to Prevent Abuse of 501(c)(4) Status

Today, reform groups called on Congress to investigate and address both of the scandals at the IRS in order to prevent the same abuses from occurring in the future. The letter, sent to the full House and Senate, stressed the need to investigate the improper targeting of conservative groups and also emphasized that Members have a responsibility to investigate the abuses of the tax laws by some organizations in order to keep secret the donors financing their campaign activities.

May 20, 2013 - Voting Rights Institute to Train New Generation of Voting Rights Lawyers

The Campaign Legal Center and American University’s Washington College of Law will jointly launch a new Voting Rights Law Institute this summer to help train the next generation voting rights litigators.  The four-night Institute will be held June 24 - 27, to train and update law students and practitioners on enforcement of voting rights law, particularly cases brought to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.   The Voting Rights Institute is believed to be the first of its kind. 

May 13, 2013 - Campaign Legal Center Calls for Hearings on IRS Conduct in 501(c)(4) Controversy: Statement of J. Gerald Hebert

The more details that emerge about the conduct of the IRS in regard to applications by groups for 501(c)(4) status, the more clear it becomes that congressional hearings should be held.  The IRS’ Exempt Organizations Division appears to have been overwhelmed by the rapid increase in 501(c)(4)  applications in the last election cycle, and some of its employees were either poorly trained or improperly directed.  Congressional hearings should be held expeditiously in order to determine what went wrong, and to hold those responsible accountable.  The hearings must also examine the wholesale failure of that same Division to enforce the laws concerning political activity by existing 501(c)(4) organizations.  If the initial reports are verified, it is breathtaking that the IRS seems to be harassing mom & pop tea party organizations while ignoring what appear to be blatant abuses of the 501(c)(4) tax status right under its nose by groups pumping tens of millions of dollars into partisan political advertising.

Today, the Campaign Legal Center expressed strong support for Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-MT) and Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S. 375), to require electronic filing of campaign finance disclosure reports by Senate candidates, as House and Presidential candidates have done for more than a decade.

May 8, 2013 - Legal Center & CREW Call On FEC to Investigate Excessive Campaign Contributions

Today, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) joined Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), asking it to investigate 32 political donors for excessive contributions to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle. The complaint follows a Huffington Post report revealing these individuals contributed more than the biennial limit of $46,200 to federal candidates during 2011 and 2012, in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act and FEC regulations.

May 2, 2013 - Reform Groups Urge Congress to Close Gaping Disclosure Loopholes

Today, the Campaign Legal Center joined with other reform groups in urging both houses of Congress to pass campaign finance disclosure legislation this year. The letter reminds Congress that more than $300 million in secret contributions were spent in presidential and congressional races in 2012. That total is widely expected to grow exponentially in coming election.

April 30, 2013 - Reform Groups Call Out President Obama on Broken Promises and Lack of Leadership to Reform the Corrupt Campaign Finance System

The Campaign Legal Center joined with other reform groups yesterday in sharply criticizing President Obama’s many failures and broken promises on the campaign finance reform front and urging him to live up to his commitments in his second term. In the letter, the groups reminded the President of his many unfulfilled commitments to reform the nation’s corrupt campaign finance system and emphasized that he and his political operatives are leading the race to the bottom with Organizing for Action a privately-funded outside group functioning as an arm of the Administration.

April 26, 2013 - More Bailouts of Covered Jurisdictions Moving Forward as Supreme Court Weighs Voting Rights Act

This week more jurisdictions moved forward with bailouts from the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act as the Supreme Court weighs a challenge to the constitutionality of those provisions.  Yesterday, a three-judge court in Washington, DC approved a final consent decree exempting the City of Wheatland, California from the Act’s preclearance provisions.  On the same day, the Justice Department announced that it had reached agreement on a bailout with the city of Falls Church, Virginia (along with the Falls Church City Public School District) and submitted a proposed consent decree for approval to a three-judge court in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

April 23, 2013 -  Regarding the Passing of Common Cause President Bob Edgar

All of us at the Campaign Legal Center were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the passing this morning of Bob Edgar, the tireless and dedicated president of Common Cause. Bob brought passion and integrity to all of his many undertakings and his steadfast presence and dedication in the reform community will be sorely missed.  We had the pleasure of working with Bob on a great many initiatives since he took the helm at Common Cause.  We greatly appreciated and admired his ability to remain upbeat and committed to improving our democracy, whether in the face of triumph or setback.  For Bob, a setback like the ill-considered Supreme Court decision in Citizens United could never be used as an excuse to cede the field.  Instead, he chose to use it as a clarion call to safeguard democracy and immediately set about mobilizing for justice.  Our democracy will miss his leadership, but his work will go on.       

April 19, 2013 -  Watchdogs Urge FEC to Halt Proposal to Worsen Its Already Ineffective Enforcement of Campaign Finance Laws

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, filed comments with the Federal Election Commission urging the agency not to further weaken its already ineffective enforcement of campaign finance laws. In response to a commission notice requesting comment as to whether the FEC is effectively enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), the watchdogs’ response is an emphatic “no.” But the agency goes further and asks for comments as to whether it should further undermine its anemic enforcement process by adopting an officially policy of willfully ignoring publicly available information and legal theories not specifically cited in complaints filed with the agency. The watchdogs warn the FEC that the proposed policy of willful ignorance would only worsen an already ineffective enforcement process.

March 21, 2013 - Stephen Colbert Assists in Dedication of Ham Rove Memorial Conference Room at Campaign Legal Center

This evening, the Campaign Legal Center officially dedicated the Ham Rove Memorial Conference Room, with an assist from comedian Stephen Colbert, in order to meet the sole condition for accepting a generous check from the Ham Rove Memorial Fund. The popular host of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report provided videotaped remarks (link below) for the occasion and personally donated a life-sized portrait of himself, which now hangs at the Legal Center.  

March 20, 2013 - Voting Rights Act Bailouts Continue While Supreme Court Weighs Act’s Constitutionality

Today, a proposed consent judgment and decree was presented to a three-judge court in Washington, DC, granting a Voting Rights Act bailout to the City of Wheatland, California. If approved, Wheatland will add to the growing list of state or local governments to bailout from the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Those provisions known as Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act are being challenged in a case currently being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder.  Numerous critics of Section 5 argued in briefs to the court that the bailout process was far too arduous and cost-prohibitive, neither of which is true. Earlier this year, Brown’s Valley Irrigation District (CA) bailed out, as did the State of New Hampshire. Two other local governments (the City of Falls Church, VA, and California’s Yuba County Water Agency) have bailout lawsuits pending in the DC Court.

Today, the Campaign Legal Center joined Democracy 21 in asking President Obama whether his involvement with Organizing for Action (OFA) is consistent with the statutory ban on the solicitation of gifts by the President and executive branch officials. In a letter, citing numerous media accounts of OFA and its ties to the President and his 2012 campaign, the watchdog groups questioned whether the President’s involvement with the organization contravenes the Ethics in Government Act and its explicit ban on the soliciting of gifts by executive branch officials. The President is exempted from the law’s executive branch prohibition on accepting gifts, but remains subject to the ban on soliciting gifts, directly or indirectly, from sources with interests that may be substantially impacted by the decisions and policies of the Administration.

March 7, 2013 - U.S. Chamber’s & API’s Gross Mischaracterizations of the Law Rebutted in SEC Comments Filed by Legal Center

Today, the Campaign Legal Center submitted comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rebutting a series of gross mischaracterizations of law made by two major trade associations seeking to avoid disclosure of their donors whose money is used for political activities. In their comments to the SEC concerning a rulemaking petition filed by the Committee on Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending urging the SEC to require public companies to disclose their political spending to shareholders, the United States Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute (API) offered incorrect and misleading information to the SEC, which the Legal Center debunks in its comments to the agency.

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, filed comments with the Federal Election Commission supporting a draft rule interpreting disclosure requirements for political committee expenditures and urging the Commission to require even more detailed disclosure of payments by a committee’s vendor to subvendors on behalf of that committee.

March 4, 2013 - New Hampshire Becomes First State to Bailout from Voting Rights Act Preclearance Requirements 

Late Friday, a three-judge court in Washington, DC, granted a Voting Rights Act bailout to the State of New Hampshire, marking the first time since the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act took effect that a state has bailed out from preclearance requirements of the Act. The bailout had assumed a higher profile when it was opposed by a conservative group seeking to undermine the defense of the Voting Rights Act before the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelby County v. United States.  The court denied the attempt by the Center for Individual Rights to intervene in the case on the grounds that the voter that the Center represented lacked standing.

February 27, 2013 - Contractor Contribution Ban Defended by Watchdogs in Appeals Court Filing

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21 and Public Citizen, filed an amici brief in Wagner v. FEC opposing an effort to overturn the 70-year-old ban on campaign contributions by federal contractors. The case is currently on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia after a federal district court upheld the ban in November of 2012.

February 25, 2013 - Supreme Court Leaves Ban on Direct Corporate Contributions Alone, Denies Cert in Danielczyk

Today, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the century-old federal ban on corporate contributions to candidates and political parties in U.S. v Danielczyk.   Despite a clearly activist and deregulatory bent on campaign finance matters under Chief Justice John Roberts, the High Court let stand a circuit court decision upholding the ban.

February 19, 2013 - Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Challenge to Aggregate Contribution Limits

Today, unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge brought to the aggregate federal contribution limits, noting probable jurisdiction in McCutcheon v. FEC.  The case, brought by plaintiffs Shaun McCutcheon and the Republican National Committee (RNC), challenges both the $70,800 aggregate limit on contributions to non-candidate committees and the $46,200 aggregate limit on contributions to candidate committees in a two-year election cycle.

February 13, 2013 - Reform Groups Urge Office of Congressional Ethics to Steer Clear of Procedural Minefield

Reform groups sent a letter today to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) urging the agency to avoid the procedural minefield of rules changes proposed recently by several private attorneys.

February 11, 2013 - Watchdogs File in Defense of Disclosure Laws in 10^th Circuit in Free Speech v. FEC

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, filed an amici brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in the latest of a long line of challenges to federal disclosure laws.  Free Speech v. FEC is a challenge to the “subpart (b)” definition of “expressly advocating” (11 C.F.R. § 100.22(b)), as well as the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) methodology for determining when a group has campaign activity as its “major purpose,” an important step in the larger determination of political committee status.

February 1, 2013 - Voting Rights Act Defended in Supreme Court Brief by Bailed Out Jurisdictions in Shelby County v. Holder

Today, the Campaign Legal Center filed an amici brief to defend the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder on behalf of several jurisdictions that have bailed out under the Act by demonstrating a record of non-discrimination.

January 30, 2013 - Reformers Urge House Administration Chair to Hold Hearings to Address 2012 Election Abuses & Fixes

The Campaign Legal Center today joined with ten reform groups to urge newly installed House Administration Committee Chair Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) to hold hearings early in the 113^th Congress to examine potential legislative solutions to repair the a campaign finance system run amok in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The letter emphasized the broad public support for repairing the damage done to our democratic process by big donors and secret contributions.

January 16, 2013 - IRS Urged to Investigate American Tradition Partnership and Its Suspect Application for 501(c)(4) Status

The Campaign Legal Center today joined Democracy 21 in urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate whether American Tradition Partnership (formerly Western Tradition Partnership) submitted false information to the agency in order to obtain its 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status. Copies of the organization’s application materials published by ProPublica and Frontline indicate that the group made numerous false claims while seeking expedited review of its application for exempt status.

January 9, 2013 - Legal Center Names Megan McAllen First Rapoport Legal Fellow

The Board of Directors of the Campaign Legal Center this week approved the selection of Megan McAllen as the Legal Center’s first recipient of the Rapoport Legal Fellowship.  This fellowship was made possible by a generous grant from the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation. The one-year position is designed for recent law school graduates embarking on careers in campaign finance and election law.   

January 7, 2013 - Supreme Court Again Comes Down On Side of Donor Disclosure, Denies Cert in Real Truth About Abortion

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari in The Real Truth About Abortion v. FEC and left standing a lower court ruling upholding FEC rules governing donor disclosure.  The suit specifically challenged the “subpart (b)” definition of “expressly advocating” (11 C.F.R. § 100.22(b)), as well as the FEC’s methodology for determining when a group has campaign activity as its “major purpose.” Both are key measures to ensure effective determinations of federal “political committee” status, and by extension, to implement the comprehensive disclosure requirements applicable to such political committees.

January 3, 2013 - “Straw Company” Complaints to FEC & DOJ Supplemented With Additional Information Regarding Funder & FreedomWorks’ Role 

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, supplemented complaints to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding possible violations of campaign finance law by two companies seemingly created for the purpose of funneling $12 million to the Super PAC FreedomWorks for America while hiding the identity of the donor. New information uncovered by The Washington Post indicates that Illinois millionaire Richard J. Stephenson was the source of the $12 million and that FreedomWorks itself, led by executive vice president Adam Brandon, orchestrated the scheme for Stephenson to evade federal campaign finance disclosure laws. The FEC and DOJ have been urged to investigate whether Stephenson, Brandon and FreedomWorks violated federal campaign finance laws by making and receiving political contributions in the names of two shell companies.

January 2, 2013 - Crossroads GPS Application to IRS Bears No Resemblance to Shadow Party Committee that Spent $70 Million Anonymously on Ads 

The Campaign Legal Center today joined Democracy 21 citing new evidence in urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to deny Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The letter points to the recent public dissemination by the news organization ProPublica of Crossroads GPS’s application to the IRS seeking privileged 501(c)(4) tax exempt status as a “social welfare” organization able to keep its donors secret. The application describes an organization bearing little resemblance to the Crossroads GPS whose recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings revealed $70 million in independent expenditures and electioneering communications to elect Republican candidates or defeat Democratic candidates for federal office in the 2012 elections.

December 21, 2012 - New Hampshire and Justice Department Reach First State Bailout Agreement

The State of New Hampshire and the United States Attorney General reached an agreement today that would grant a bailout for the ten towns and townships in the State that are subject to the preclearance requirements of the Voting Rights Act.  The agreement was submitted to a three-judge court in Washington, DC, and asks the court to wait thirty days to enter it, so that the towns can publicize the proposed settlement.  Campaign Legal Center Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert serves as legal counsel to the State of New Hampshire in his capacity as a solo practitioner.  New Hampshire becomes the first state to bailout since Congress changed the bailout requirements under the Voting Rights Act in 1982.

December 21, 2012 - Legal Center Urges Reps. Shuler & Emerson to Resign or Recuse Themselves Due to Conflicts of Interest

Today, the Campaign Legal Center urged Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) to resign from Congress or at the very least recuse themselves from all official matters related to the issues of energy or the environment and broader matters like the “fiscal cliff” due to conflicts of interest created by the jobs they will start when they leave office.

December 20, 2012 - FEC & DOJ Complaints Filed Against “Straw Companies” that Funneled $12 million to FreedomWorks Super PAC

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate possible violations of campaign finance law by two companies that appear to have been created for the purpose of funneling $12 million to the Super PAC FreedomWorks for America, while hiding from the public the source of the funds. Specialty Group Inc. and Kingston Pike Development LLC were both created by William S. Rose of Knoxville, Tennessee in late September 2012 and over the six weeks leading up to Election Day funneled more than $12 million to FreedomWorks.

Last night, Stephen Colbert announced on the Colbert Report that the Ham Rove Memorial Fund had made a grant of more than $135,000 to the Campaign Legal Center. A condition of the grant requires that the Legal Center name its conference room The Ham Rove Memorial Conference Room. The staff at the Legal Center is already referring to the room by its new name and look forward to dedicating the conference room and bringing the space into full compliance with the condition as soon as the plaque arrives.

December 12, 2012 - Conservative Groups Join Reform Coalition Calling for President to Fix the Federal Election Commission and for Congress to Preserve the Office of Congressional Ethics

Groups of various political persuasions joined together today calling upon House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to reauthorize and appoint new board members to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), and for President Barack Obama finally to step up to the plate and appoint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) new commissioners who will pull the campaign finance agency out of its moribund state.

December 6, 2012 - In Latest Campaign Finance Challenge, Watchdogs File in Defense of Vermont’s Disclosure Laws in 2^nd Circuit

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, filed an amici curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, defending the disclosure provisions and contribution limits of the State of Vermont’s campaign finance law in Vermont Right to Life Committee (VRLC) v. Sorrell. The suit is part of a long string of challenges to state disclosure laws.