[EL] An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
Jeff Hauser
jeffhauser at gmail.com
Fri Jan 19 19:16:47 PST 2018
https://t.co/y2M9kg6gQF?amp=1
On Jan 19, 2018 10:13 PM, "Jeff Hauser" <jeffhauser at gmail.com> wrote:
> You're claiming all c4 issue ads on the Internet about politicians are
> disclosed to the FEC? Is that seriously your claim?
>
> And the fact that a Senator took the number of the first, nearly one year
> overdue concession from Facebook that ads purchased in rubles from St.
> Petersburg, Russia about politicians might be problematic doesn't mean
> that is even a tiny fraction of what was being spent in both ads and paid
> trolls.
>
> On Jan 19, 2018 9:54 PM, "Smith, Brad" <BSmith at law.capital.edu> wrote:
>
> Jeff,
>
> What is your evidence for claiming that "enormous amounts of digital
> spending is not available to the FEC"?
>
> 52 U.S.C. 30104(c)(1): Every person (other than a political committee) who
> makes independent expenditures in an aggregate amount or value
> in excess of $250 during a calendar year shall file a statement
> containing the information required under subsection (b)(3)(A)
> of this section for all contributions received by such person.
>
> That includes internet spending.
>
> There is, of course, a fair amount of all kinds of spending that is not
> disclosed--independent expenditures by a person aggregating less than $250,
> some spending on membership communications, that sort of thing. But even
> including such longstanding provisions, which also apply to the web, what
> is your evidence, or even reason for believing, that "enormous amounts of
> digital spending is not available to the FEC"? I know of nothing to suggest
> that, and of course, by and large "enormous amounts" of unreported spending
> would already be illegal.
>
> I'd note that in introducing the "honest ads" act, Senator Klobuchar
> stated that “$1.4 billion was spent on online advertising in the 2016
> election." As her source, she cited https://www.borrellassoc
> iates.com/industry-papers/papers/2015-to-2016-political-
> advertising-outlook-august-15-detail. https://www.borrellassociates.com/
> industry-papers/papers/2015-to-2016-political-advertising-
> outlook-august-15-detail. In turn, the legislative findings in Section
> III of the Honest Ads Act notes that Facebook reported "between June 2015
> and May 2017, Russian entities purchased $100,000 in political
> advertisements."
>
> *Bradley A. Smith*
>
> *Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault*
>
> * Professor of Law*
>
> *Capital University Law School*
>
> *303 E. Broad St.
> <https://maps.google.com/?q=303+E.+Broad+St.%0D+Columbus,+OH+43215&entry=gmail&source=g>*
>
> *Columbus, OH 43215
> <https://maps.google.com/?q=303+E.+Broad+St.%0D+Columbus,+OH+43215&entry=gmail&source=g>*
>
> *614.236.6317*
>
> *http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx
> <http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx>*
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Jeff Hauser [jeffhauser at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Friday, January 19, 2018 12:54 PM
>
> *To:* Smith, Brad
> *Cc:* Rick Hasen; Sean Parnell; Election Law Listserv
> *Subject:* Re: [EL] An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports
> about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
>
> Brad first wrote," What would such a statute look like? I’ve never really
> seen one that solves the alleged problem without creating double reporting,
> and often providing misleading information to the public.
>
>
>
> And always remember, we’re talking about approximately 3%, more or less
> (less last year)* of political spending.*"
>
>
> He then wrote, "I didn’t give any statisitics on digital spending. I gave
> stats on total spending. We at IFS derive those from Open Secrets and
> from FEC records."
>
>
> But an enormous amount of digital spending is not available to either Open
> Secrets or the FEC.
>
>
> If you purport to discuss the denominator of "political spending," you are
> purporting to know the actual amount of digital spending.
>
>
> But since you cannot know the full amount of digital spending. you should
> not be making claims about "political spending."
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 12:49 PM, Smith, Brad <BSmith at law.capital.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> I didn’t give any statisitics on digital spending. I gave stats on total
>> spending.
>>
>>
>>
>> We at IFS derive those from Open Secrets and from FEC records.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Bradley A. Smith*
>>
>> *Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault *
>>
>> * Professor of Law*
>>
>> *Capital University Law School*
>>
>> *303 East Broad Street
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https://maps.google.com/%3fq%3d303+East+Broad+Street%250D+_Columbus,+OH+43215_%26entry%3dgmail%26source%3dg&c=E,1,6878QynwdMpnK9GVhwjPbemedLwLIH_8fEwSSXDgQ9QFY4ElackKG-vv2dK5tDzIAYuSv58uuGQ8SsaydVwCzUkGK4_dd52K4HmlTmV8ExyxHQ,,&typo=1>*
>>
>> *Columbus, OH 43215
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https://maps.google.com/%3fq%3d303+East+Broad+Street%250D+_Columbus,+OH+43215_%26entry%3dgmail%26source%3dg&c=E,1,ZcV0uDmN9xndIIneN0YtMXyLq0Ff-eIwdAWPQZFvR3cpezrHoM5w7uByXqg3W8Swxw7NuIauQuYggSAuG4mUqv8UAwT5VlETmWSWuN78x7xtVwV9X_C9&typo=1>*
>>
>> *(614) 236-6317*
>>
>> *bsmith at law.capital.edu <bsmith at law.capital.edu>*
>>
>> *http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp
>> <http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp>*
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Jeff Hauser [mailto:jeffhauser at gmail.com]
>> *Sent:* Friday, January 19, 2018 12:46 PM
>> *To:* Smith, Brad
>> *Cc:* Rick Hasen; Sean Parnell; Election Law Listserv
>>
>> *Subject:* Re: [EL] An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports
>> about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
>>
>>
>>
>> "And always remember, we’re talking about approximately 3%, more or less
>> (less last year) of political spending."
>>
>>
>>
>> Brad, what is your source of statistics on total digital political
>> spending in 2016, and the proportion disclosed?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 12:43 PM, Smith, Brad <BSmith at law.capital.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>> What would such a statute look like? I’ve never really seen one that
>> solves the alleged problem without creating double reporting, and often
>> providing misleading information to the public.
>>
>>
>>
>> And always remember, we’re talking about approximately 3%, more or less
>> (less last year) of political spending.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Bradley A. Smith*
>>
>> *Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault *
>>
>> * Professor of Law*
>>
>> *Capital University Law School*
>>
>> *303 East Broad Street
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https://maps.google.com/%3fq%3d303+East+Broad+Street%250D+_Columbus,+OH+43215_%26entry%3dgmail%26source%3dg&c=E,1,S7bonyLVvU0kPXLO0VvCJ05LsPUKl_xAUWIrdanWxC1UNwSpHpjJ2fJbgL8LJglwPWU6dATnYbrzMcQBBZypXcy1pQRqc-AGtGMkE9rbffoKl64,&typo=1>*
>>
>> *Columbus, OH 43215
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https://maps.google.com/%3fq%3d303+East+Broad+Street%250D+_Columbus,+OH+43215_%26entry%3dgmail%26source%3dg&c=E,1,-_-oWvTskmv9apWftdyGAG2EOw-gwMA4BDrbFhC95JMSBnT0MATCP7vSYI8tmqlT-RAtOTkVniOuJSRyRj0ummkO-me6wcrrSxyK0-LQI5Bhi30aw3fO1s0f&typo=1>*
>>
>> *(614) 236-6317*
>>
>> *bsmith at law.capital.edu <bsmith at law.capital.edu>*
>>
>> *http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp
>> <http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp>*
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Law-election [mailto:law-election-bounces at d
>> epartment-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Rick Hasen
>> *Sent:* Friday, January 19, 2018 12:28 PM
>> *To:* Sean Parnell; Jeff Hauser
>> *Cc:* Election Law Listserv
>>
>>
>> *Subject:* Re: [EL] An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports
>> about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
>>
>>
>>
>> That seems like a pretty good argument for Congress to pass improved
>> disclosure laws, regardless of the tax status of a particular organization,
>> for any organization or person who spends or contributes BIG money (I’d
>> raise thresholds dramatically) on election-related activity (we can discuss
>> how that is best defined, but at least extending electioneering
>> communications to digital ads seems like a good start).
>>
>>
>>
>> This way we know where the ultimate source of money is, without allowing
>> the kind of shell games to go on.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From: *Sean Parnell <sparnell at philanthropyroundtable.org>
>> *Date: *Friday, January 19, 2018 at 9:22 AM
>> *To: *Jeff Hauser <jeffhauser at gmail.com>, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>
>> *Cc: *Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
>> *Subject: *RE: [EL] An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports
>> about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
>>
>>
>>
>> And the same goes for the public, of course, who would only see “We’re
>> Totally Not The Russians LLC” listed on whatever form of disclosure is
>> envisioned by Ciara and others in the “reform” community.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sean
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Jeff Hauser [mailto:jeffhauser at gmail.com <jeffhauser at gmail.com>]
>> *Sent:* Friday, January 19, 2018 12:11 PM
>> *To:* Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>
>> *Cc:* Sean Parnell <sparnell at philanthropyroundtable.org>; Election Law
>> Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
>> *Subject:* Re: [EL] An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports
>> about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
>>
>>
>>
>> Michael Cohen has been alleged by the Wall Street Journal to create an
>> LLC to pay off an actress aleged to have an affair with Trump:
>> https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lawyer-used-privat
>> e-company-pseudonyms-to-pay-porn-star-stormy-daniels-1516315
>> 731?utm_source=The+Point+with+Chris+Cillizza+Alerts&utm_
>> campaign=d827904afa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_19&utm_medium=
>> email&utm_term=0_ada7c7ac0a-d827904afa-83775533
>>
>>
>>
>> If Russians created shell companies in Delaware to give money to the NRA,
>> all the IRS would see is "Delaware LLC."
>>
>>
>>
>> (the NRA would presumably make inquiries about any unexpected
>> contributions, and I doubt they lack information on who is giving them big
>> money)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 11:59 AM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Has the NRA issued any public statements denying the receipt of money
>> from Russian government sources/sources allied with Russian government
>> which were used by its c4 for election-related activity?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From: *Sean Parnell <sparnell at philanthropyroundtable.org>
>> *Date: *Friday, January 19, 2018 at 8:55 AM
>> *To: *Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>, Election Law Listserv <
>> law-election at uci.edu>
>> *Subject: *re: An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about
>> Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
>>
>>
>>
>> I wanted to clear up what some might mistakenly infer from the piece by
>> Ciara Torres-Spelliscy linked to below concerning the latest speculation
>> regarding foreign money, Donald Trump, and those pesky Russians (hold on a
>> sec, it appears the 1980’s are calling and wish to talk to me about
>> something). She writes:
>>
>> *For many years now, good-government groups and campaign finance experts
>> have warned that illegal foreign funds could be hiding in that dark money.*
>>
>> *That’s because, in federal races, political spenders that go dark are
>> exploiting a loophole between the campaign finance system overseen by the
>> FEC, which typically insists on that all donors to campaigns identify
>> themselves, and charities the Internal Revenue Service allows to collect
>> funds donated anonymously.*
>>
>> Three things:
>>
>> 1. The National Rifle Association is not a “charity,” at least as
>> defined by the IRS. It’s a 501c4 “social welfare” organization (it does
>> have an associated foundation, which is a 501c3, but I don’t believe it’s
>> alleged that this entity was funding any political ads, let alone
>> Russian-funded ads).
>> 2. While the NRA and other 501c organizations do not reveal donors to
>> the public, they do reveal them to the IRS (or at least are required to) on
>> Schedule B. Presumably, if there is a concern that the NRA took in millions
>> of dollars from Russian sources (whether state or “private” to the extent
>> there’s any distinction in Russia), it should be relatively easy for the
>> FBI to get the information from the IRS (I’m not sure if it requires a
>> subpoena or not in this particular instance, but law enforcement is able to
>> get confidential tax records). I’d guess that someone at the NRA handed a
>> few million dollars by a Putin pal would have realized this and handed it
>> back, if such a highly-speculative transaction occurred, but then there are
>> some imprudent people out there so who knows?
>> 3. Anonymous contributions to charities are hardly a “loophole,” it
>> is in fact a practice with a long and deeply ingrained history in
>> philanthropy, praised in the Gospel of Matthew 6:1 – 6:4 and also by Seneca
>> the Younger, among others. I’ve written an overview of anonymous charitable
>> giving, published last year, if anyone is interested:
>> http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/file_uploads/Protectin
>> g_Donor_Privacy.pdf
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/file_uploads/Protecting_Donor_Privacy.pdf&c=E,1,yB8z6rp4LjNjM5ymoJ1dImrzWM79VhYNJoqxPC_XoXt9GjQT0InnValyOCkhJtMP_8pHZoIqhgWkOAemSMJDexQDkzwm71eIcqSOvJJOrtAElXaUNJul5RoCSQ,,&typo=1>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Sean Parnell
>>
>> Vice President of Public Policy, The Philanthropy Roundtable
>>
>> 1120 20th Street NW, Suite 550
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https://maps.google.com/%3fq%3d1120+20th+Street+NW,+Suite+550%26entry%3dgmail%26source%3dg&c=E,1,ZSWvIYPRn84sKS13Ax9ZK6c-a2JJcOUgmhZh1u-6g3eKfV7j8xw-gLwMl08sCin-6g7wtZuMFxZmB-uGLA8YLHKgrMoMk86BMOji7S_G7S4,&typo=1>
>> South
>>
>> Washington, DC 20036
>>
>> (202) 600-7883 (direct)
>>
>> (571) 289-1374 (mobile)
>>
>> sparnell at philanthropyroundtable.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *“An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about Russian money
>> going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct”
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://electionlawblog.org/%3fp%3d96992&c=E,1,BKi2Bl65mU5t49bOewqAU826TvtS3eDYa8NI60HN9UKbJwZj9V_sIszWT4hRZH5TMPfGuNrBkBlk_HzUjasx-ls5ZBiDEC-68FaeWbdVmqYtQ3BuUgXvZw,,&typo=1>*
>>
>> Posted on January 19, 2018 7:16 am
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://electionlawblog.org/%3fp%3d96992&c=E,1,3Vamj5-VOxEeYqxdG_0blzHJ_2qRAmm75-uAR2swPatBXSs7ZH531VACjxuix2nc-mHZX-jT4DVvLzUnxoTizF19Ja3SzFcXdCbB4v8u1bx8gYB9rZ-WLLLDuQ,,&typo=1>
>> by *Rick Hasen*
>> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://electionlawblog.org/%3fauthor%3d3&c=E,1,SmymVOI1x1o5FHgDBghPFJE8Hid_DkCm86r_yypWpQTeY8-KPIdE14N1JZQb4O6F_-vpZzg3JqhoHNCGleWkr37i6H98w7w83AhogQ0c9tNg5evNeuyq&typo=1>
>>
>> Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
>> <http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/insidious-foreign-dark-money-threat-article-1.3765048> NYDN
>> oped.
>>
>> Posted in campaign finance
>> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D96992&title=%E2%80%9CAn%20insidious%20foreign%20dark%20money%20threat%3A%20New%20reports%20about%20Russian%20money%20going%20to%20the%20NRA%20could%20prove%20watchdogs%E2%80%99%20fears%20correct%E2%80%9D>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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