Campaign Legal Center
| Founder(s) | John McCain |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Founded | January 2002 |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Area served | United States |
| Motto | Representing the public interest in enforcement of media and campaign law |
| Website | http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/ |
Campaign Legal Center is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) that aims to represent the public interest in strong enforcement of United States campaign finance laws.[1] It was founded by Senator John McCain[2] in January 2002.[1]
The CLC's website allows users to track the activities of the Federal Election Commission, campaign finance legislation, and good-government issues such as lobbying, ethics, and redistricting reform, while its blog offers expert opinion on such matters.[3] The center also supports the need for free media access for candidates in order to dampen the need for incessant political fundraising.[4]
Trevor Potter served as its original President and General Counsel,[5] before leaving in November 2006 to work on John McCain's 2008 Presidential campaign.[6] As of January 2012, the current policy director is Meredith McGehee.[7]
[edit] Activities
In 2004, it was a party to a complaint given to the Federal Election Commission against the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as well as a complaint against America Coming Together.[8][9]
During the 109th Congress, it joined with a coalition of other civic organizations to lay down six benchmarks to prevent congressional corruption.[10]
The center was critical of former Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards's use of charity organizations which he had founded, complaining they were being used chiefly to keep himself in the public eye in preparation for a possible 2008 Presidential run.[11]
The group filed an amicus brief in the 2007 landmark Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, urging the Court not to strike down a key provision of McCain-Feingold which prevented unlimited political contribution to organizations not directly affiliated with Federal candidates.[12] The following year it again filed a brief with the Court over a rule in the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that raised contribution limits when candidates faced a self-funding opponent; the group favored the rule.[13]
In 2010, the CLC joined with another watchdog group, Democracy 21, in asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a tax exempt social welfare group run by Karl Rove.[14]
The group filed an amicus brief in 2011 on behalf of eight public interest groups in support of challenged provisions of Arizona's clean election law, the Citizens Clean Elections Act. After the Court struck down the provisions (Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett), a spokesperson for the group declared that the decision undermines "the integrity of our elections."[15] Later that year, the center expressed concerns that Stephen Colbert's satirical Super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, might spawn serious imitators.[16] In August, it asked the U.S. Justice Department to probe the mysterious behavior of W Spann LLC.[17]
The group continues to act as a campaign watchdog during the 2012 Presidential primaries.[18][19][20][21][22][23]
[edit] References
- ^ a b United States Supreme Court (2004). Trade regulation series. 36. Bureau of National Affairs. p. 630. http://books.google.com/books?ei=1UgjT96QHaLy0gHbnIDxCA&id=wbo2AQAAIAAJ&dq=%22Campaign+Legal+Center%22+trade+regulation&q=%22Campaign+Legal+Center%22&hl=en.
- ^ Cressman, Derek (2007). The Recall's Broken Promise: How Big Money Still Runs California Politics. The Poplar Institute. p. 231.
- ^ Hrebenar, Ronald J.; Bryson B. Morgan (2009). Lobbying in America: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 263.
- ^ Brown, Lyle; Joyce A. Langenegger, Sonia R. García, Ted Lewis, Robert E. Biles (2011). Practicing Texas Politics. Cengage Learning,. p. 176.
- ^ "Arena Profile: Trevor Potter". Politico. http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/trevor_potter.html.
- ^ Utter, Glenn H.; Ruth Ann Strickland (2008). Campaign and election reform: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO. pp. 182–183.
- ^ "Will 2012 Be the End of the Presidential Public Financing System?". http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/08/the-end-of-presidential-public-financing.html.
- ^ Schmidt, Steffen W.; Mack C. Shelley, Barbara A. Bardes, Lynne E. Ford (2011). American Government and Politics Today 2011-2012 Edition. Cengage Learning. p. 354.
- ^ York, Byron (2006). The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of the Democrats' Desperate Fight to Reclaim Power. Random House. p. 92.
- ^ Lubbers, Jeffrey S. (2010). Developments in Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. American Bar Association. p. 84.
- ^ Wayne, Leslie (2007-06-22). "In Aiding Poor, Edwards Built Bridge to 2008". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/politics/22edwards.html?pagewanted=all.
- ^ Roche, Lisa Riley (June 26, 2007). "Justices ease limits on campaign ads". Deseret Morning News. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/680194005/Justices-ease-limits-on-campaign-ads.html.
- ^ Gerstein, Josh (2008-04-22). "9 Will Hear Campaign-Finance Case". New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/national/9-will-hear-campaign-finance-case/75048/.
- ^ Paulson, Amanda (2010-10-05). "Karl Rove group spends big in Election 2010, but is it legal? GOP strategist Karl Rove is sending big money to Republicans in close Election 2010 races. But two campaign watchdogs are asking the IRS to investigate his tax-exempt 'social welfare' group". Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/1005/Karl-Rove-group-spends-big-in-Election-2010-but-is-it-legal.
- ^ KARMASEK, JESSICA M. (June 27, 2011). "U.S. SC rules against public financing program". Legal Newline. http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/233128-u.s.-sc-rules-against-public-financing-program.
- ^ Geiger, Kim; Melanie Mason (June 30, 2011). "Stephen Colbert makes case before FEC for 'Colbert Super PAC'". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/30/news/la-pn-colbert-fec-20110630.
- ^ Isikoff, Michael (2011-08-05). "Justice asked to probe mystery donation to pro-Romney group: Reform groups say $1 million from firm that soon dissolved itself could violate law". NBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44027203/ns/politics-decision_2012/.
- ^ Mooney, Brian C. (2012-01-26). "In Fla., donations to Gingrich erase Romney’s edge". The Boston Globe. http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-26/nation/30664003_1_newt-gingrich-rick-tyler-pac.
- ^ Palmer, Anna; Dave Levinthal (2012-01-25). "FEC reform petition lags; sponsor blames W.H.". Politico. http://www.politico.com/politicoinfluence/0112/politicoinfluence185.html.
- ^ Newmyer, Tory (2012-01-25). "Who's backing the GOP candidates? Super PACs are spending super sums to finance their Republican favorites. Good luck tracking down the source of those funds". Fortune/CNN. http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/25/super-pacs-republican-candidates/.
- ^ Snyder, Jim (2012-01-25). "TransCanada Lobbying Tops $1.3 Million as It Pushes Keystone". Bloomberg News. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-25/transcanada-lobbying-tops-1-3-million-as-it-pushes-keystone.html.
- ^ Negrin, Matt (2012-01-24). "Newt Gingrich: The Lobbyist Who Wasn't". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/newt-gingrich-lobbyist/story?id=15430694.
- ^ [1]
