In a letter sent today to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, reform groups called on the IRS to end the misuse use of nonprofit groups to launder secret contributions into federal elections.

The reform groups included the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Demand Progress, Democracy 21, League of...

Reform groups today wrote to President Obama strongly urging him to reject all riders in appropriations bills, including four damaging campaign finance riders, and to insist that clean FY 2016 appropriations legislation is sent to him for his signature.

The reform groups include: Campaign Legal...

Yesterday in Sacramento, the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) adopted amendments to the state’s regulations on “Independent versus Coordinated Expenditures” that strengthened the regulation in a number of ways.  At the hearing, the Campaign Legal Center’s Senior Counsel Paul S...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, strongly urged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to reject the request from Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC to follow the lead of a number of GOP Super PACs in breaking a variety of laws through coordinated activities with...

The Campaign Legal Center joined Democracy 21 in filing comments today in support of a Public Citizen rulemaking petition seeking revisions of the FEC’s flawed disclosure and coordination regulations.

The comments noted that the two organizations also filed comments last January, in a similar...

The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 sent a letter today to the FEC Commissioners urging them to reject a proposal to be offered at the agency’s October 29 meeting by Commissioner Lee Goodman to provide “regulatory relief for political parties.”

According to the letter:

The most alarming...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center joined the Sunlight Foundation and Common Cause in urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take immediate action to enforce the public file and sponsorship identification requirements of Sections 315 and 317 of the Communications Act.  Enforcing the...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Common Cause, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen urged the Committee on House Administration to adopt new rules making clear that expenditures from Members’ Representation Allowances (MRAs) are subject to review and approval by the Committee.  Lax oversight...

In a letter sent today to the Tax Division of the Justice Department, the Campaign Legal Center joined Democracy 21 in calling for an investigation of the Conservative Solutions Project (CSP), an organization claiming tax-exempt status as a social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4) of the...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center filed an amicus brief urging the Texas Supreme Court to uphold a lower court decision affirming numerous provisions of Texas campaign finance laws in Texas Democratic Party v. King Street Patriots.  The Campaign Legal Center filed amicus briefs in both the district...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center and Issue One released a jointly produced report which details a suite of specific solutions to reduce the power of money in politics and restore faith in public institutions. The report and accompanying website, “Blueprints for Democracy,” provide a comprehensive...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center called on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to move expeditiously to report out H.R. 4179, “The Fair and Clear Campaign Transparency Act.”  This legislation, introduced December 3rd by Representative Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), directs the Federal Communications...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) received notification that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has fined pro-Mitt Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future (ROF) $50,000 for illegally spending millions of dollars airing an advertisement in 2012 that was originally produced and aired by the 2008...

Reforms groups sent a letter today enclosed below to President Barack Obama, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid urging them to block any last minute efforts to kill the presidential tax check off system in the Omnibus spending bill.

The reform groups...

The deal struck late last night on the Omnibus funding measure removed some troubling campaign finance riders that would have rolled back longstanding reforms. The current bill however includes two riders that will cement in place the ‘dark money’ status quo for the 2016 election cycle.The first...

The Campaign Legal Center yesterday joined in a lawsuit alleging widespread corruption in the awarding of contracts by the Houston Independent School District (HISD).  The Legal Center joins the legal team representing a Houston construction contractor who was locked out of the school district’s...

On Monday, January 11, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by voice vote H.R. 1069, the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act, to reveal the identities of donors to presidential libraries, prompted by reports raising concerns about sitting Presidents fundraising for such institutions.  H.R...

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, with Democracy 21, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) urging the FEC to investigate apparent violations of campaign finance laws by Senator Ted Cruz and the 2012 Cruz for Senate Campaign relating to loans he obtained from Goldman Sachs and...

Today in Van Hollen v. FEC, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit once again upheld an FEC rule that severely limits federal disclosure requirements connected to “electioneering communications.” The appellate panel overturned a district court decision holding the rule “arbitrary, capricious...

Today in Wolfson v. Concannon, the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld Arizona rules involving campaigns for judicial office. Prior to the en banc proceedings, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel had invalidated the challenged rules—which include provisions restricting judicial...