Oral Arguments for Federal Election Commission (FEC) vs. Ted Cruz for Senate will be held on Jan. 19, 2022. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has filed two amicus briefs in this case, urging the Court to uphold the constitutionality of the challenged law that limits post-election fundraising.

On Dec. 20, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed public comments with the Oregon Secretary of State's office concerning a proposed rulemaking to clarify the state's administrative rule for campaign advertising disclaimers. CLC's comments recommend making minor changes to the secretary's final rule to ensure that disclaimer statements on digital campaign ads are clearly visible. 

This report details Arizona's current campaign finance laws, including legal gaps and shortcomings, and recommends policy solutions to fight corruption and to ensure that Arizonans know the real sources spending big money in their elections. 

On Dec. 1, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission alleging Eric Greitens' gubernatorial campaign committee, Greitens for Missouri, violated state campaign finance law by failing to disclose in-kind contributions made to Greitens' U.S. Senate campaign. 

On Nov. 29, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted public comments to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) regarding proposed amendments to its disclosure rule for "commercial advertisers," including online platforms, that sell political advertising in state elections. CLC's comments include several recommendations that would ensure the PDC's amended rule continues to facilitate public access to important information about political ads concerning candidates and ballot measures in Washington.  

On Nov. 22, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC)—joined by Citizens for Ethics & Responsibility in Washington (CREW), Common Cause and Democracy 21—filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate. The brief urges the Court to uphold the constitutionality of the challenged law, a provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) that limits the post-election repayment of candidates’ personal loans to their campaigns. As noted in the amicus brief, contributions raised after Election Day to repay a candidate’s personal loans are functionally personal gifts to the candidate, not campaign speech, and limiting cash gifts that personally enrich candidates is a well justified and commonsensical protection against corruption and self-dealing.

On Nov. 19, 2021, a federal district court denied Iowa Value's motion to dismiss Campaign Legal Center's (CLC) private enforcement action against the group, recognizing that the citizen suit provision in federal campaign finance law is a “safeguard to protect the First Amendment rights of complainants” like CLC.

On July 20, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging Rep. Jim Hagedorn's campaign committee illegally accepted corporate contributions in the form of free office rent. 

On Nov. 19, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a supplement to its complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging Rep. Jim Hagedorn's campaign committee illegally accepted corporate contributions in the form of free office rent. An Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) probe confirmed the allegations.

On Nov. 18, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Issue One (IO) submitted to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) their joint report documenting abuses of leadership PAC funds in the 2020 election cycle. The letter urged the FEC to proceed with a rulemaking that prohibits the use of leadership PAC funds for personal expenses. 

Campaign Legal Center Action (CLCA) filed suit on behalf of Giffords against the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund, the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Matt Rosendale for Montana and Josh Hawley for Senate, alleging illegal coordination through the use of a common vendor between the NRA affiliates and seven candidates for federal office, including Matt Rosendale and Josh Hawley in 2018. CLCA is representing Giffords in this suit to hold the NRA accountable for long-running violations of the laws designed to limit money’s influence on politics.

On Aug. 9, 2018, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Giffords filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the National Rifle Association (NRA) alleging that it unlawfully coordinated with U.S. Senate candidates Tom Cotton, Cory Gardner and Thom Tillis in the 2014 election cycle, and U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson in the 2016 cycle. This amended CLC's earlier complaint to add Giffords as a co-complainant.  

On Oct. 28, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that Eric Greitens illegally spent over $100,000 in state campaign funds to finance the startup costs of his U.S. Senate campaign and also falsely reported some of that spending as a personal contribution from himself to his Senate campaign, in violation of several provisions of federal campaign finance law.

On Oct. 21, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed public comments with the Wyoming Secretary of State's office regarding the proposed rulemaking to define "direct coordination" between candidates and PACs or political parties. Our comments make several recommendations that would strengthen Wyoming's final rule to ensure it effectively prevents the circumvention of the state's restrictions on corporate contributions to candidates. 

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) asking for an investigation into Rep. Moore for possibly converting leadership PAC funds to personal use, in violation of the House Rules. Only 12% of Rep. Moore's leadership PAC spending from 2019 to 2020 went toward other candidates and political parties and groups. 

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) asking for an investigation into Rep. Mike Kelly for possibly converting leadership PAC funds to personal use, in violation of the House Rules. Only 22% of Rep. Kelly's leadership PAC spending from 2019 to 2020 went toward other candidates and political parties and groups. 

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) asking for an investigation into Rep. Seth Moulton for possibly converting leadership PAC funds to personal use, in violation of the House Rules. Only 8% of Rep. Moulton's leadership PAC spending from 2019 to 2020 went toward other candidates and political parties and groups. 

On Oct. 4, 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), the Center on Science & Technology Policy and the Center on Technology Policy filed a formal rulemaking comment urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to close a transparency loophole that has allowed campaigns and super political action committees (PAC) to conceal the recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars of campaign spending by routing that money through shell corporations and other intermediaries.

On Sept. 30, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to take action on a complaint filed by Giffords and Campaign Legal Center (CLC) against the National Rifle Association (NRA) for illegally coordinating millions of dollars in election spending with at least seven federal candidates.