Houston Chronicle & San Antonio Express-News: Sham issues ads or advocacy?

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Larry Noble, general counsel for the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center and a former general counsel for the Federal Elections Commission, said all three mailers fit the category of a “sham issue ads.” He said all three were framed in a way to specifically avoid using any magic words but clearly were intended to influence the outcome of an election.

He said the new Texas regulation expanding requiring disclosure should apply to all three.

“These can definitely be read to be advocating for a candidate to be defeated. There’s no other reason for this,” Noble said. “It’s so easy to avoid using magic words that if these are allowed to slip through then the law pretty much becomes meaningless.”

To read the full article at the San Antonio Express-News, click here