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Campaign Finance
Campaign Finance
The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to participate fully in the political process.
The dependence of political candidates on wealthy special interests is a serious flaw in our political system, and makes elected officials responsive to their large donors rather than to the public. The tremendous power of special interest money in politics often drowns out the voice of everyday Americans, threatens our First Amendment freedoms, and erodes the foundations of our entire democracy. To restore fairness to our political system, CLC advocates for passing and enforcing strong campaign finance reforms that help guarantee a democracy responsive to the people.
These reform solutions include placing reasonable limits on funding of campaigns, complete transparency of campaign spending and public financing of elections. CLC helps enact such policies at the state, local and federal levels, and works to ensure that the Federal Election Commission enforces current campaign finance laws. CLC also defends laws that promote the First Amendment’s guarantee that every American has the ability to participate in the democratic process.
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Campaign Finance Cases and Actions
After the FEC failed to take action for over three years, CLC filed suit against the dark money group Heritage Action for America to enforce disclosure laws. Heritage Action spent over $1 million to influence federal elections in 2018 cycle without reporting its funding sources.
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To keep their electoral spending secret, wealthy special interests often funnel contributions through vaguely named LLCs or corporate entities — a violation of federal law that fundamentally undermines transparency. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) takes action to support robust enforcement of laws banning these “straw donor” contributions and advocates for reform.
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CLC has sued the FEC for its failure to act on CLC’s July 2020 administrative complaint alleging that then-President Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign committee (and an associated fundraising committee) violated federal campaign finance transparency requirements by routing hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign spending through intermediaries without disclosing the ultimate payees.
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Every eligible citizen should have a voice in our democracy, not just the wealthy few.
CLC Provides Guidance at the State and Local Level
CLC works on the ground in cities and states fighting for a better democracy. We serve as an expert resource to citizen organizations working to improve democracy in their own neighborhoods. CLC provides model legislation, model ballot initiatives and specific expert guidance to help ensure that local reform measures are effective and will stand up in the courts.
CLC Poll Finds Voters Want Campaign Finance Laws Enforced
CLC commissioned two bipartisan polls of that confirm voters are deeply concerned about “corruption in the political system” and want the FEC to take a more active role in enforcing campaign finance laws.
CLC Watchdogs Calls Out Finance Violations
In July 2018, CLC uncovered how the Soviet-born associates of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani laundered six-figure contributions to President Trump’s super PAC through a shell corporation. Our campaign finance complaint resulted in the October 2019 arrest of the two suspects.
Speak to one of CLC's legal experts