Watchdog Cheers E-Filing of Campaign-Finance Docs

President Trump’s signature on September’s omnibus spending bill has earned him strange bedfellows: a campaign-finance watchdog group that has spent years condemning him.

Buried deep in the budget bill signed today by the president are new requirements for members of the Senate to electronically file their campaign-finance reports, a change from the current system requiring manual data entry. It’s a move made by the House years ago and has been long sought by accountability advocates.

“This will save taxpayers nearly $1 million every year, enhance transparency and help to increase accuracy,” Trevor Potter, a former Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said in a statement from his group the Campaign Legal Center shortly after the bill was signed. “Citizens will finally be able to view and search the actual Senate reports online and watchdog organizations will be able to better monitor and analyze campaign activity,” Potter said.

Potter’s positive feedback runs in stark contrast to many aggressive legal steps the organization has taken to hold Trump accountable for what they believe to be gross violations of the executive branch.

Read the full article