By Sarah Lang
Last Updated 06/18/2019
Federal Election Commission News
On June 5, 2019, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”) and Noah Bookbinder filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that the Federal Election Commission failed to act on their administrative complaint from August 2018. The August complaint alleged that Freedom Vote failed to report an independent expenditure, failed to register as a political committee, failed to file disclosure report, and engaged in a scheme to make contributions in the name of another. Link to summary.
The Department of the Treasury has a new mailing address for disgorged contribution. Federal political committees that accept contributions believed to be legal that the committee later determines were, in fact, illegal, may disgorge these contributions by mailing them to the Department of the Treasury.
Department of the Treasury
Bureau of the Fiscal Service
PO Box 1328
Parkersburg, WV 26106-1328
Attn: Agency Cash Branch, Avery 3G
Link for more information
San Jose Board of Fair Campaign and Political Practices News
In 2018, the City of San Jose’s Board of Fair Campaign and Political Practices paid more than $117,000 to an outside attorney to investigate ethics complaints against local politicians, a process some lawmakers say is driven by political motives and wastes taxpayer dollars. Link to news story
Los Angeles City Ethics Commission News
In May, the Los Angeles City Council moved forward with a proposal that would restrict the ability of developers to make political contributions to candidates in city elections. Specifics of the rule still must be finalized, but the proposal would make Los Angeles the first city to put such restrictions in place. Link to news story