Musk Wants Me Imprisoned

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FFI33MM2Z8E

‘Michiganders for Money Out of Politics’ petition taken up in the House

“MMOP has successfully gathered more than half a million signatures and the message from Michiganders is clear: They want to see this on the ballot in November. Senate Democrats already agree that there is too much dark money in politics, and we are eager to hear what voters have to say on this issue. In that spirit, we will not be subverting the will of the voters by taking it up legislatively,” Brinks said in a written statement...

https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-08-25/michiganders-for-money-out-of-politics-petition-taken-up-in-the-house 

 

Citizens United was the most destructive court decision in modern American history

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PKwcCTVQbOM

Red State Supreme Court STUNS GOP with MAJOR Ruling

The beginning of the end for Citizens United and unlimited corporate cash in politics?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zIjRjkgZxw 

 

Lame duck no more? Trump stockpiles hundreds of millions ahead of midterms. - POLITICO

Campaign finance disclosures filed late Saturday revealed details of the president's unmatched political fundraising operation…

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/01/donald-trump-fundraising-midterms-00759005 

 

Supreme Court weighs further loosening campaign finance limits - The Washington Post

Republican leaders are asking the court to remove limits on how much parties can spend in coordination with federal candidates on items like advertisements and campaign expenses. They say the existing limits hinder the parties' free-speech rights and put parties in a weaker position than outside groups like Super PACs. 

The Democratic party opposes that bid, arguing that lifting the limits on party spending would lead to a greater potential for quid-pro-quo corruption, allowing wealthy donors to dodge individual contribution limits by donating through parties instead…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/09/supreme-court-campaign-finance-limits/

 

MAGA Madness (Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; Making the Case podcast)

If you’re looking for a high-profile job in the Trump Administration, loyalty to MAGA is the only requirement.

In this episode, Senator Whitehouse welcomes Lisa Graves of True North Research back to the podcast to discuss how President Trump’s DOJ has gone after his political enemies, and the legal setbacks the Department has faced at the hands of unqualified loyalists who have been wrongly appointed as U.S. Attorneys. Whitehouse and Graves also set the scene on the dark money corruption swirling around the Supreme Court in advance of a key campaign finance case.

Follow ⁠⁠⁠Senator Whitehouse⁠⁠⁠ ⁠on⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠⁠, and⁠ ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ for all the latest updates on Making the Case.
Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-fmtqh-2948fb41

‘Partisan politics’: how efforts to overturn the Johnson amendment could upend campaign finance

"I think it'll have as big, or a bigger impact than Citizens United," said Andrew Seidel, a constitutional attorney and expert on Christian nationalism. "I don't think people are fully prepared for a country in which churches can accept tax deductible donations in the billions of dollars and then turn around and use that money for partisan politics."… 

In the short run, overhauling the provision could, Seidel said, allow churches to function effectively as Super Pacs, accepting tax-deductible donations from politically-motivated donors and channeling them into political causes. Such a scenario could, Seidel cautions, force churches to subject themselves to the same financial disclosures that Super Pacs face. 

The church could be the subject of litigation, but then again, who's going to be running the IRS? Who's going to be enforcing that?" said Seidel. "It'll be the Trump administration."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/14/johnson-amendment-campaign-finance

Opinion | Donald Trump’s Campaign-Finance Disclosures Are ‘a Governance Nightmare’ - The New York Times

All but 18 of the 150 largest expenditures on a Trump campaign's 2020 F.E.C. report went to A.M.M.C. None of the expenses were itemized or otherwise explained aside from anodyne descriptions including "placed media," "SMS advertising" and "online advertising." F.E.C. rules require candidates to fully and accurately disclose the final recipients of their campaign disbursements, which is usually understood to include when payments are made through a vendor such as A.M.M.C. This disclosure is intended to assure donors their contributions are used for campaign expenses. Currently, neither voters nor law enforcement can know whether any laws were broken...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/26/opinion/republican-donors-money-trump.html

Hawley sparks McConnell battle over push to gut Citizens United ruling | The Hill

"He doesn't like my bill," Hawley said. "As an originalist, there is no original meaning giving corporations the right to make political contributions, and it's warping our politics. It is giving them incredible power and I just think it's a big mistake." 

"The overwhelming majority of Republican voters think he's wrong…

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4288563-hawley-mcconnell-battle-gut-citizens-united-ruling/

Mitch McConnell warns GOP senators they’ll face ‘incoming’ if they back Hawley bill to limit corporate giving in campaigns | CNN Politics

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell bluntly warned Republican senators in a private meeting not to sign on to a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley aimed at limiting corporate money bankrolling high-powered outside groups, telling them that many of them won their seats thanks to the powerful super PAC the Kentucky Republican has long controlled...

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/politics/mitch-mcconnell-josh-hawley-citizens-united/index.html

Opinion | George Santos Pushed Campaign Finance Abuse Past the Usual Line - The New York Times

But Mr. Santos didn't structure his fraud the usual way, according to the indictment. Instead, the government said, he set up a regular business and falsely told donors that it was a 501(c)(4). That company, which The New York Times says appears to be RedStone Strategies, had nothing to do with supporting Mr. Santos's campaign but everything to do with supporting his bank account. He "converted most of those funds to his own personal benefit," the indictment says, and didn't even go through the usual procedural sham of registering the social welfare group with the I.R.S., which is not exactly difficult to check...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/opinion/george-santos-money-campaign.html

Ted Cruz just convinced the Supreme Court to make it easier to bribe lawmakers - Vox

A case brought by Ted Cruz is a huge boon to rich candidates and moneyed lobbyists...

https://www.vox.com/2022/5/16/23074957/supreme-court-ted-cruz-fec-bribery-campaign-finance-first-amendment-john-roberts-elena-kagan

U.S. Supreme Court backs Ted Cruz, dumps campaign finance curb | Reuters

In a blistering dissenting opinion, liberal Justice Elena Kagan said the court was effectively aiding and abetting corruption in Washington by allowing donors to contribute to a campaign after an election in a way that benefits the candidate personally…

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-backs-ted-cruz-campaign-finance-dispute-2022-05-16/

Corporate sedition is more damaging to America than the Capitol attack

…The Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema – whose vocal opposition to any change in the filibuster is on the verge of dooming voting rights – received almost $2m in campaign donations in 2021even though she is not up for re-election until 2024. Most of it came from corporate donors outside Arizona, some of which have a history of donating largely to Republicans. 

Has the money influenced Sinema? You decide. Besides sandbagging voting rights, she voted down the $15 minimum wage increase, opposed tax increases on corporations and the wealthy and stalled on drug price reform – policies supported by a majority of Democratic senators as well as a majority of Arizonans…

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/16/corporate-sedition-capitol-attack-democracy-political-financing-donations-sinema-voting-rights

Opinion | Mitch McConnell’s un-conservative plea to the Supreme Court - The Washington Post

…The case, to be argued Jan. 19, offers a particularly vivid illustration of the conservative mania to undo even the most inoffensive campaign finance restrictions. But the McConnell brief, authored by former Trump White House counsel Donald McGahn and former Trump administration solicitor general Noel Francisco, is notable for a different and more alarming reason: There is, it seems, no argument too extreme for this crowd in their effort to reshape the law to their liking…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/30/mitch-mcconnells-un-conservative-plea-supreme-court/

Election 2020: 89 articles to teach you about how American elections really work

In a world transformed by a pandemic, few of the fundamentals in Americans’ lives – schools, jobs, even how to shop for groceries – have remained the same. The same is true with the election, where the most basic of the institution’s elements – how, where and when to vote, among them – have changed. When The Conversation US’s politics editors met to figure out how to provide readers with coverage that would be useful and informative, the approach was clear: a civics lesson. Over the course of roughly 100 articles, our scholars have explained how the U.S. election system works, retold the history of how it got that way and examined what effects and significance those mechanisms have for the nation today. Here, our team has collected all of these articles, divided thematically, from the very beginning of campaigning through what happens after Election Day itself.

https://theconversation.com/election-2020-89-articles-to-teach-you-about-how-american-elections-really-work-148243

The Press Found Two More Trump Financial Crimes Today

Donald Trump is in far more legal peril than most people understand. Just as his surprising victory over Hillary Clinton has made us unduly optimistic about his prospects of pulling out another comeback over Joe Biden, his ability to escape the Mueller investigation and impeachment has created an aura of impunity. But Trump does not have a magic power that enables him to stymie any investigation. The probes he is facing down right now are serious. How serious? This afternoon alone, the New York Times and Washington Post both have reported stories revealing two apparently new financial crimes by Trump. These are in addition to the already-known crimes.....
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/the-press-found-two-more-trump-financial-crimes-today.html

Trump accuses Bloomberg of 'illegally buying' Democratic nomination | TheHill

President Trump on Tuesday accused former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg of trying to “illegally” buy the Democratic nomination for president, taking aim at the billionaire businessman’s massive self-funding operation. “What Mini Mike is doing is nothing less than a large scale illegal campaign contribution. He is ‘spreading’ money all over the place, only to have recipients of his cash payments, many former opponents, happily joining or supporting his campaign. Isn’t that called a payoff?” Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/483521-trump-accuses-bloomberg-of-illegally-buying-democratic-nomination

Prepare to be shocked! Trump’s one weird trick to avoid a campaign investigation. – Center for Public Integrity

This is a tale of how President Donald Trump is avoiding judgment by the government agency that’s supposed to “protect the integrity of the federal campaign finance process.”....

https://publicintegrity.org/politics/trump-fec-campaign-election-quorum-pascrell/