Free Republic

This Sunday is the deadline for campaigns and PACs to file their next FEC report, with fundraising and spending numbers covering July 1 through Dec. 31, 2015. This is the first time we've seen numbers from super PACs since June, and a lot has happened since then. We'll be using our Real-Time Influence Explorer to keep track of the filings as they come in, tweeting out interesting and noteworthy insights on Twitter -follow along! Here's a quick rundown of what we can expect from the filing deadline, and some of the things we'll be looking out for: 1. How much...

By now most people are aware of the controversy surrounding Candidate Ted Cruz and his failure to reveal $1.3 million in campaign "loans" from Goldman Sachs and Citibank during his 2012 campaign for the senate. At the heart of the issue is a failure of Ted and Heidi Cruz to list Wall Street "loans" on the required Federal Election Commission financial reports. Together with the campaign officials the Cruz's say the non-reporting was an accidental oversight. However, a watch dog group has now filed a complaint with the FEC which is step one to beginning an FEC investigation. cruz goldman...

How forgetful for a guy with a photographic memory. That story that you funded your campaign with your cashed in assets, it isn't true, you told it so many times and left something big out. This is big trouble for TED since the amount is very large.

Dean Parker was under fire for big spending, including paying himself $20,000 a month. Ben Carson's national finance chairman resigned Thursday amid questions about his use of campaign funds and criticism from Carson allies and donors. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, appointed Parker, a tech industry entrepreneur from Mobile, Alabama, in May to spearhead the campaign’s fundraising efforts. Parker’s been a relatively little-noticed campaign power, having Carson’s ear despite friction with other leaders. Since he joined, some campaign insiders told POLITICO, his operation has piled up unnecessary expenses and paid hefty consulting fees to an inexperienced staff. Parker recently began earning...

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wants the Federal Election Commission to create an exemption that would allow him to spend $600,000 in unspent campaign and PAC funds on personal matters as he retires from office, the Washington Examiner reports. FEC Commissioner Lee E. Goodman labeled the funds an "administrative slush fund" as the extraordinary request was made, the Examiner reports. The Nevada Democrat wants to use the funds "to close out his offices and aid his shift to becoming a former public official still intent on influencing the nation's agenda," the Examiner's Paul Bedard reports. Read Latest Breaking News from...

Two words that make foes of the First Amendment go crazy: Citizens" and "United." Citizens United was the Supreme Court case that ruled the First Amendment applies to everyone: unions, individuals, and corporations supporting their interests through free speech. But the Federal Election Commission has started the process to undo the Citizens United case - and only one day remains for Americans to provide comments asking the FEC to respect the First Amendment.

Carly Fiorina is the real Donald Trump. No, she's not a billionaire with bad hair, a loose tongue and an unbridled ego the size of Australia. But she's a non-politician who's never held office, but is unnerved by the decline of American power and wishes to see it reversed. But unlike Trump she may also be able to do something about it, as she a.) knows how to speak English; b.) is able to think and speak in a rational sequence; c.) has spent years learning how the world works and building relationships with the people who run it; and...

The FEC has opened an inquiry (see pdf below) into Ted Cruz Super-PAC (KtP) and Carly Fiorina Super-PAC (CfA). I’ll just drop this here as a reminder to what we previously said was going to happen; when you know the “splitters” you know the most likely scenario... ....Keep The Promise (KtP) Super-PAC is a pro-Ted Cruz PAC run by David Barton. David Barton is also Chairman of Mercury One Charities (Glenn Beck)... ...Carly For America (CfA) Super – PAC is a pro-Carly Fiorina PAC. The FEC is asking why would Keep The Promise (Ted Cruz PAC) be giving money to...

"Yes, I believe American people are intelligent enough to make decisions," said FEC chairwoman Ann Ravel. The chairwoman of the federal agency responsible for overseeing the nation's campaign finance laws has suggested that federal authorities should help Americans to make "thoughtful" political contributions. The comment came during a Thursday meeting of the Federal Election Commission. The agency was considering whether to issue an advisory decision for an organization called "Democracy Rules" that created a game-like platform for making political contributions. According to the rules of the platform, participants vote for one of a few issues in a given category, like...

Full title: Judicial Watch: FEC Must Investigate Democratic National Committee for Employing Illegal Alien to Craft 2016 Political Message (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission requesting that it investigate the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for having “knowingly hired” an illegal alien, Cindy Nava, to help craft the committee’s 2016 political message and communications. Judicial Watch filed its complaint on August 25, 2015. A June 8, 2015, story in The Washington Post reported that the DNC hired Nava with full knowledge of what DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)...

Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which has struggled to keep costs in check, wants donors to pay for their own food and valet parking at fundraising events, according to a request it filed this month with the Federal Election Commission. The request, released publicly by the FEC on Tuesday afternoon, sketches out a novel accounting plan under which the Clinton campaign would shift some fundraising costs to donors, without counting against their contribution limits. According to the request signed by Clinton’s lead campaign lawyer Marc Elias, Clinton’s presidential campaign “plans to organize and host numerous events throughout the election cycle in restaurants,...

Let's Fire Trump, the Cleveland-based political action committee recently established as a vehicle for attacking Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, might have to change its name. "Your committee's name includes the name of a candidate; however, your committee does not appear to be an authorized committee of that candidate," a senior campaign finance and reviewing analyst for the Federal Election Commission wrote this week in a letter to Jennifer Scofield, the group's treasurer. The analyst warned Scofield that the PAC could face an audit or "enforcement action" if it does not pick a new name or clarify the nature of...

Two of the better-funded GOP candidates for president — Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — have sought and received extra time to file mandatory personal financial disclosure statements. Both wrote the Federal Election Commission last week seeking a 45-day extension so they wouldn’t have to file the forms by June 30.

The Federal Election Commission, which is tasked with enforcing campaign finance law, has ordered the Stop Hillary PAC to cease incorporating Mrs. Clinton’s name in its own or face penalties. At issue is a federal rule barring independent groups from incorporating or using the name of a candidate for federal office in their own names. The rule is designed to protect voters from mistaking independent groups such as PACs and super PACs with official campaigns. Dan Backer, a lawyer for Stop Hillary, argues that the word “Stop” in the committee’s name already precludes any confusion and that no supporter of...

AT&T wants to make a deal. America's second-largest mobile telephone provider and its largest landline provider wants to purchase DirecTV, the satellite television provider, for $49 billion. Regulators routinely have to sign off on such mega-deals. At least in theory, they do so in the interest of protecting the freedom of the marketplace from monopolistic practices. But in this case, the regulators are not protecting consumers — instead, the Washington Post reported last week, the Federal Communications Commission appears to be using this deal as a bargaining chip to buy off one of the larger and better-funded sources of opposition...

Jeb Bush is under growing pressure to acknowledge what to some voters and a number of campaign finance lawyers seems obvious: He is running for president. The lawyers say Mr. Bush, a former Florida governor, is stretching the limits of election law by crisscrossing the country, hiring a political team and raising tens of millions of dollars at fund-raisers, all without declaring — except once, by mistake — that he is a candidate. Some election experts say Mr. Bush passed the legal threshold to be considered a candidate months ago, even if he has not formally acknowledged it. Federal law...

The Federal Election Commission, facing punishing criticism for suggesting that political activity on the Internet should be regulated, rejected talk of new rules Thursday, a victory for GOP commissioners who feared Democrats were targeting conservative sites, even the Drudge Report. During a public meeting, Democrats on the FEC said they were responding to the public outcry in saying that no new rules are required.Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub said the FEC received 5,000 comments demanding the agency keep their hands off the Internet. In response, she proposed a resolution that directly barred Internet regulation."I wanted to make clear that I was...

The SunRail commuter train finished its first year of operation $27.2 million in the red, bringing in $7.2 million while spending $34.4 million. The shortfall was covered by taxpayers through the state Department of Transportation, which oversees the system running from DeBary in Volusia County through downtown Orlando to south Orange County. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, chairman of the SunRail board, called the performance "good for a first year." He predicted SunRail's losses would fall in coming years because the train would carry more passengers and advertising income would increase.

Bristling at claims that GOP opposition has made the Federal Election Commission "worse than dysfunctional" in the eyes of the Democratic chairwoman, Republicans counter-charge that the left is frustrated because it hasn't succeeded in regulating conservative Internet sites, media and right-leaning super PACs. In an escalating fight on the politically-divided FEC, the former Republican chairman on Monday charged his Democratic replacement with playing politics and trying to belittle foes to get her way. (Snip) "To punctuate her concerns over 'dark money' as the poster issue for Republican lawlessness, she has publicly called out four conservative non-profit organizations: Crossroads GPS, Americans...

NOTE TO ADMIN MOD: this is not a commercial solicitation. I have no expectations of selling the item for $37,500. The point is to expose the story. After three false FEC returns, the FEC gave Hillary an immunity agreement and ordered her to file a fourth report. She filed a fourth false report and the crime thus continues. FREEPERS --- please ask questions on the item and allow me to tell the story and further skewer her. I hope this story can make the news. Thanks. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bill Clinton signed directors chair seatback from concert that evidenced a crime Hillary...