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Jun 9, 2006 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: June 9, 2006
This week the Campaign Legal Center sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice asking for an investigation of Representative Michael Oxley's (R-OH) involvement in the Freddie Mac illegal fundraising scandal. According to the press release, "Freddie Mac recently paid a $3.8 million fine to settle a complaint that it illegally used corporate treasury funds to sponsor fundraisers that raised nearly $3 million dollars for Members of Congress." The release goes on to say, "The vast majority of the 85 fundraising events benefited Chairman Oxley at a time when legislation was pending before his committee that was opposed by Freddie Mac. The legislation never made it to Chairman Oxley's full committee, despite the support of the subcommittee chairman for the legislation."
In May, the Legal Center also sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and the House ethics committee asking for a Congressional investigation into the matter. Neither the Speaker, nor the Ethics Committee, has responded to the Legal Center's letter.
To read the full press release and the Legal Center's letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, click here.
To read the Legal Center's letter to Speaker Hastert, click here.
In a letter to Chairman Kevin Martin, the Campaign Legal Center and other reform groups urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to define public interest obligations for broadcasters before voting on multicasting must-carry.
While the groups did not take a position on multicasting must-carry, they asked the Commission to define "meaningful and effective" public interest obligations for digital broadcasters. The letter was also sent to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Joining the Legal Center in the letter to Chairman Martin were the Benton Foundation, Common Cause, the Media Access Project, the New America Foundation and the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc.
To read the full letter sent to the FCC and the Hill, click here.
This week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) published an advisory opinion (AO 2006-19) in response to a request by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, which sought permission to pay for certain direct mail and automated phone calls entirely with soft money, rather than paying for the communications with a mixture of hard money and Levin funds pursuant to the Commission's "get out the vote" (GOTV) regulations. The Commission determined that, because the direct mail and phone calls were not customized for the recipients, they did not constitute an "individualized" means of communication and, therefore, were not subject to the GOTV regulations. Consequently, the Commission advised the party that it may pay for the activities using entirely soft money. The Commissions announcement of this new "customized content" standard appears to open a significant new loophole in BCRA's soft money restrictions.
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To read the FEC's written opinion, click here .
To read the Legal Center 's comments, filed jointly with Democracy 21, click here .
To view AOR 2006-19, click here .
Legal Center Blog Highlights
Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff is posting blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org . To read the latest entries concerning the new rules on GOTV activities and California 's contributions limits, or to sign up for the blog updates, click here .
Week in the News
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on campaign finance, please click here. |
