The New Yorker – The Money Midterms: A Scandal in Slow Motion By: Evan Osnos In 1971, after studying law at Harvard, Fred Wertheimer became the chief lobbyist for Common Cause, a non-profit that aimed to limit the corrosive influence of money in politics. He was thirty-two years old. “Watergate comes along the next year, […]
The Huffington Post FEC Does it Again: Permits Large Contribution to National Parties that are Prohibited by Campaign Finance Law By: Fred Wertheimer The FEC did it again last week. The agency voted 4 to 2 to permit the DNC and the RNC to receive large contributions that are prohibited by the Federal Election Campaign Act. […]
The Brennan Center for Justice A New Campaign Finance Jurisprudence By: Fred Wertheimer The world of campaign finance jurisprudence radically changed when Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito joined the Supreme Court in 2005 and 2006 to create a new Court majority. The Roberts majority proceeded to overturn a century of the nation’s policies and […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The FEC issued seriously flawed regulations today to implement the Citizens United decision. The regulations come nearly five years after the Supreme Court decided the case and provide yet another example of the dysfunction that characterizes the agency. Incredibly, the FEC left out of its action today the […]
Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer In voting today to approve an advisory opinion request made jointly by the Republican and Democratic National Committees, four FEC Commissioners invented out of thin air a new opportunity for the national parties to raise contributions in excess of the contribution limits enacted by Congress. The three Republican […]
Democracy 21 joined the Campaign Legal Center in strongly urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to reject the request from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) seeking to undermine the existing federal limits on contributions to national political parties established in the wake of Watergate. The watchdog groups filed comments on […]
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a challenge to the federal “electioneering communications” disclosure provisions in Independence Institute v. Federal Election Commission (FEC). Last month, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen joined the Campaign Legal Center in filing an amici brief in the case, urging the Court to reject the suit, arguing that […]
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