Campaign Legal Center (CLC) sent a letter to New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s office urging him to veto Senate Bill 302, an anti-transparency bill that prohibits state and local authorities in New Hampshire from requiring nonprofit entities to disclose any information about their donors and supporters.

On May 20, 2022, CLC filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alleging that Rural America Fund, a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt nonprofit, failed to fulfill its legal obligation to provide CLC with its Forms 990 upon request.

On May 19, 2022, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that unknown contributors violated the federal straw donor ban by making contributions totaling $125,000 in the name of “Tread Standard, LLC," an obscure Delaware limited liability company, to two super PACs, 34N22, Inc. and South Florida Residents First, thereby concealing their identities from public disclosure.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted testimony in support of amending the Washington Voting Rights Act (WVRA) to include a preclearance system. CLC’s testimony focused on the benefits of preclearing election law changes to avoid costly litigation and prevent discriminatory voting practices from coming into effect, as well as the ease of administering a preclearance system.

On May 5, 2022, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed suit against Heritage Action for America, a secret money group that spent more than $300,000 expressly advocating for congressional candidates in 2018.  The suit alleges that Heritage Action failed to report its contributors as required by federal campaign finance law. 

Kedric Payne, Campaign Legal Center's (CLC) vice president, general counsel, and senior director, ethics, testified on the Supreme Court’s approach to ethics, transparency and accountability. His testimony focused on how the Supreme Court’s ethics rules lag behind the executive and legislative branches.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted this written statement for the record as part of a May 2022 hearing on "Laws and Enforcement Governing the Political Activities of Tax-Exempt Entities" conducted by the United States Senate Committee on Finance. CLC’s statement summarizes what more should be done to protect voters’ right to transparent political campaigns amidst ongoing misuse of federal nonprofit and tax code rules to hide the true sources of election spending.

On May 2, 2022, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that William Pulte and/or unknown contributors violated the federal straw donor ban by making a $500,000 contribution in the name of “ML Organization, LLC," an obscure Delaware limited liability company, to “Make America Great Again, Again!”, a super PAC that is closely aligned with former President Donald J. Trump and intends to support Trump-endorsed candidates in the 2022 midterm congressional elections.

Decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upholding the challenged Rhode Island disclosure laws. 

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a friend of the court brief on behalf several former Department of Justice attorneys in Arkansas NAACP v. State of Arkansas. In Arkansas NAACP v. State of Arkansas, organizations appealed a federal district court’s decision that private parties are not allowed to file lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. 

On March 7, 2022, the Rhode Island State Board of Elections Respondents filed a brief in the Supreme Court in opposition to a petition seeking review of the state’s top-five donor disclaimer requirement, which requires groups to disclose their top five largest contributors on certain electioneering ads. Along with the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) served as outside co-counsel to the respondents in the Supreme Court.

On April 22, 2022, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed suit against 45Committee, a secret money group that spent as much as $38 million in 2016 to help elect former President Donald Trump. The suit alleges that 45Committee failed to register as a political committee as required by federal law, thereby avoiding disclosure of its donors and spending.  

On April 21, 2022, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Federal Election Commission failed to conform with the court’s Nov. 8, 2021 order directing the agency to end its delay in acting on CLC’s allegations against 45Committee, and accordingly, ordered that CLC may bring an action to enforce FECA against 45Committee. 

On April 11, 2022, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted a statement in support of the proposed Democracy Dollars program in Oakland to the Oakland Public Ethics Commission. The Democracy Dollars program would establish a voucher-based public financing system for several elected offices in Oakland, California.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) found reason to believe that Zekelman Industries, Inc., Wheatland Tube, LLC, and Barry Zekelman violated the foreign national contribution ban and issued a record-breaking $975,000 civil penalty. The decision follows a 2019 complaint filed by Campaign Legal Center (CLC.)

On April 6, 2022, CLC submitted a letter to the New Hampshire House Committee on Judiciary urging the committee to oppose Senate Bill 302, an anti-transparency bill that would make it more difficult for the public to know who is spending big money to influence New Hampshire government and elections.

On March 30, 2022, the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee denied in large part Tennessee's motion to dismiss the Tennessee NAACP's challenge to the state's failed voting rights restoration process. The claims under the U.S. Constitution will proceed, as well as a claim that Tennessee has violated the National Voter Registration Act.

On March 31, LUCHA, LULAC, Arizona Students’ Association and ADRC Action filed suit against Arizona Secretary of State Hobbs challenging H.B. 2492, an extreme anti-voter law that imposes documentary proof of residence and citizenship requirements on voter registration, discriminates against naturalized U.S. citizens and strips certain voters of the right to vote in presidential elections and by mail.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) provided written testimony to the Committee on House Administration ahead of a Subcommittee on Elections hearing on Texas voting practices. CLC and our partners recently took Texas to court over its discriminatory, illegal voter purge that disproportionately targeted naturalized U.S. citizens who registered to vote after obtaining their citizenship, and the litigation ultimately resulted in a settlement agreement ending the state’s flawed voter purge program.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has sued the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for its delay in acting on CLC’s administrative complaint alleging that then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign committee (and an associated fundraising committee) violated federal campaign finance reporting requirements. The lawsuit is based on an administrative complaint CLC filed with the FEC in July 2020 and supplemented in January 2021, which alleged that the committees routed payments to campaign vendors through firms with close ties to the campaign, concealing the details of the committees’ spending from the public.