Trump’s SCOTUS List of 21
Justice Larsen’s Record Offers Few Clues about her Views on Free Speech
By Luke Wachob
Since there were no cases to review, we searched law review articles with both “Joan L. Larsen” and “First Amendment.” The search turned up only one paper containing more than a passing reference to the First Amendment. The article[1], from 2004, contrasts the Supreme Court’s legitimate uses of comparative and international law with what Larsen terms a “moral fact-finding” approach employed by the Rehnquist Court in Lawrence v. Texas…
Justice Larsen writes that this principle, if applied broadly, would “fundamentally alter the constitutional path we have forged for ourselves in the United States.” One example she explores is freedom of speech:
“Or consider the First Amendment. Deference to the world community here would probably result in abridgment of currently recognized constitutional rights to freedom of speech. Many nations restrict speech far more than is constitutionally permissible in the United States. For example, in the United States, hate speech generally is constitutionally protected unless it amounts to an “incitement of violence.” By contrast, many nations, including those that typically recognize some measure of protection for the freedom of expression, substantially restrict hate speech…”
In the News
Philanthropy Daily: Philanthropy Roundtable petitions Supreme Court to uphold donor privacy
The Philanthropy Roundtable filed an amicus brief Monday in the case Independence Institute v. Federal Election Commission urging the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold donor privacy and free speech for 501(c)3 charities.
“Many philanthropists value the freedom to keep their giving private for important religious, historical, cultural, and practical reasons,” said Sean Parnell, vice president for public policy at the Roundtable. “The Philanthropy Roundtable urges the Supreme Court to preserve this freedom and reject efforts to pry open the donor lists of nonprofits that are not engaged in election-related speech.”…
“The Independence Institute should not be forced to choose between remaining silent on issues of public importance or subjecting its donors to harassment and retribution by those who do not share its views. The Supreme Court should uphold the important privacy rights of donors that have been recognized since 1958 in NAACP v. Alabama,” Parnell said.
CCP
Amici Curiae Brief of Constitutional Law, Political Science, and Economics Professors in Support of Independence Institute
The right to speak and publish anonymously or pseudonymously can be conceived as either an intrinsic part of the freedom of speech and of the press (and of assembly/association as well), or as a necessary prophylactic principle to guard against the chilling effect on unpopular speech of public exposure and possible reprisal.
If the right is intrinsic, then it follows that there can be no public right in the informational benefit of disclosure. Any disclosure must require specific regulatory justification unrelated to the communicative effects of disclosure. (Prevention of corruption or identification of criminal wrongdoing are plausible legitimate interests that might support compelling disclosure under limited circumstances.) These amici believe a strong case can be made that the freedoms of speech, press, and association/assembly, as understood at the Founding, included anonymity.
Supreme Court
Politico: Trump pledges to name Supreme Court nominee within two weeks of inauguration
By Eliana Johnson
President elect Donald Trump said that he would nominate a Supreme Court justice “probably within two weeks” of his inauguration on Jan. 20…
Trump said he has met with “numerous” candidates for the seat vacated by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and all have been “outstanding.”
Helping guide his decision are Federalist Society executive vice president Leonard Leo, Heritage Foundation President and former South Carolina senator Jim DeMint, and a handful of Republican lawmakers, he said.
Independent Groups
The Hill: Super PAC launches effort attacking Trump for potential conflicts of interest
By Mallory Shelbourne
American Bridge, a super PAC founded by Democratic operative David Brock, is launching a multi-pronged effort Wednesday that criticizes President-elect Donald Trump for his potential business conflicts of interest.
The campaign, which comes the same day Trump is set to host “a general news conference,” includes a website called “TrumpMustSell.biz,” a five-page report detailing Trump’s potential conflicts of interest, and a Snapchat geofilter.
“Donald Trump is on the verge of turning the entire federal government into a subsidiary of his business empire. This isn’t just unprecedented in American history, it’s unethical and unconstitutional,” American Bridge President Jessica Mackler said in a statement.
The website features an interactive map of the world showing where Trump’s businesses are located.
The report, titled “Cashing In: How Trump Will Profit Off His Presidency,” calls on the president-elect to “completely” sell “his family’s stake in his businesses” and to release his tax returns.
Wall Street Journal: House Republican Super PAC Launches Ad for 2018 Midterm Elections
By Reid J. Epstein
Nine days before Donald Trump is inaugurated president, the House Republicans’ super PAC is launching the first TV advertising aimed at the 2018 midterm elections.
The $1.2 million ad campaign, funded by the American Action Network, is focused on the GOP effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Set to air in 15 congressional districts, it serves as the first indication of which Republicans the party considers vulnerable when they next face re-election.
The 30-second advertisement is due to begin airing Thursday. In it, an announcer offers a wishful-thinking version of the GOP position on repealing and replacing President Barack Obama’s health care law.
FEC
CRP: FEC is after Trump and his JFCs for anonymous donations, other violations
By Ashley Balcerzak
The Federal Election Commission on Tuesday sent its harshest letter yet to Donald Trump’s campaign committee, outlining violations that include accepting large donations from anonymous sources, taking contributions above the legal limits, failing to file reports of last-minute contributions and more.
It wasn’t the first such admonishment of the Trump campaign by the agency; he has been warned about similar matters in the past. This letter refers to Trump’s campaign finance report covering the period from Oct. 20-Nov. 28, 2016.
Both of Trump’s joint fundraising committees were called out by the FEC for some of the same kinds of transgressions in separate letters.
Besides that, Trump’s campaign, which reported raising $328 million for the 2016 election (including $66 million from Trump himself) has been noting refunds to donors who give more than is permissible in an unusual way that inflates his actual fundraising total.
Trump Administration
New York Times: Trump’s Plans on Businesses May Fall Short
By Susanne Craig and Eric Lipton
President-elect Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that he would place his vast business empire in a trust controlled by his two oldest sons and take other steps in an attempt to remove any suggestion of a conflict of interest with his decisions as president. But he said he would not sell his holdings.
Hours later, the government’s top ethics monitor said the plan was wholly inadequate and would leave the president vulnerable to “suspicions of corruption.”
The unusual public criticism from Walter M. Shaub Jr., director of the Office of Government Ethics, followed Mr. Trump’s most detailed explanation yet of his plans to distance himself from the global business operations of the Trump Organization. No modern president has entered the White House with such a complicated array of holdings.
Reuters: Trump’s Treasury nominee Mnuchin pledges to divest assets worth millions
By David Lawder
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has pledged to divest at least $94 million worth of investments in 43 entities to avoid conflicts of interest, according to an ethics agreement released on Wednesday.
Mnuchin said in a 42-page financial disclosure report that these investments include more than $50 million worth of common shares of CIT Group Inc, the financial services group that acquired his OneWest Bank in 2015…
Under Mnuchin’s ethics agreement, he will refrain from any decisions involving CIT Group until August 2018, when a final payment of at least $5 million from CIT Group is made as part off a “holdback” agreement related to the OneWest merger…
Mnuchin also said in his ethics agreement that prior to or upon Senate confirmation he would fully disclose the assets of his fiancée, Scottish-born actress Louise Linton, as if they were married and pledged to refrain from any matter that affects her finances.
The States
Jackson Calrion-Ledger: House passes Gunn’s campaign finance reform measure
By Geoff Pender
The House, which killed a similar measure last year, passed a campaign finance reform bill on a bipartisan vote of 102-13 on Wednesday after about an hour of debate.
The bill now goes to the Senate, which passed a campaign finance bill last year, and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves has said he expects senators will pass the House bill.
House Speaker Philip Gunn, as he vowed last year, authored a campaign finance reform bill that would “prohibit the personal use of campaign contributions by any elected public office holder or any candidate.”
Gunn’s measure is a little more loose on what constitutes personal use than a bill the Senate passed and the House killed last year, but Gunn’s bill provides teeth to enforcement that last year’s measure lacked. Gunn’s bill would give the state Ethics Commission oversight over campaign finance reporting and rules and allow the agency to fine candidates who don’t comply $1,000 per violation and to “pursue judicial enforcement.” Political committees that fail to file finance reports within a new 48-hour deadline could face a $5,000 fine.
The Missoulian: Kalispell legislator seeks to remove some campaign finance disclosure requirements
By Jayme Fraser
A Kalispell legislator proposed Wednesday that the state should roll back some campaign finance reporting requirements, two years after the Montana Legislature narrowly passed a disclosure law hailed by open government advocates as one of the nation’s strongest.
Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, has introduced Senate Bill 87, which would remove the requirement for donors to report their occupation and employer. Only 12 states do not mandate that disclosure.
“The candidate and the (campaign) treasurer does not have to verify the employer and occupation information given to them is accurate. It is also cumbersome for the contributor. Often the information is left off of contributions and the candidate or the treasurer has to pursue for that information,” Regier told members of the Senate State Administration Committee.
Washington Times: Secretary of state’s campaign finance overhaul introduced
By Associated Press
Secretary of State Shantel Krebs has proposed a rewrite of state campaign finance laws that could replace an embattled voter-approved government ethics overhaul.
The two bills introduced this week would create a campaign finance ethics commission, tighten financial disclosure requirements and allow organizations to contribute directly to candidates, among other provisions.
Krebs, a Republican, convened a bipartisan task force to review the state’s campaign finance laws over the summer, before voters approved the Initiated Measure 22 ethics package.
The ballot measure drew quick condemnation from Republican lawmakers and prompted a court challenge. GOP Gov. Dennis Daugaard says he will support efforts this session to repeal the initiative and replace it.
North County Public Radio: Cuomo addresses ethics lapses in final State of the State speech
By Karen DeWitt
Gov. Andrew Cuomo saved his ethics proposals for the last stop of his State of the State tour in Albany, where he released a 10-point plan to address rampant corruption that has reached his own administration.
The proposals come after a corruption wave at the Capitol that’s led to prison sentences for both former legislative leaders, jail time for a former state comptroller and federal charges, including bribery and bid-rigging, against nine Cuomo associates…
Cuomo wants to pass two constitutional amendments. One would ban outside income for legislators; another would impose term limits. He also wants to close a campaign finance loophole that allows donors to form limited liability companies to get around contribution limits, and enact public campaign financing.
Howard County Times: Howard’s publicly funded election system eyes 2022 launch
By Fatimah Waseem
Local lawmakers began early discussions Monday to set up a program for public funding for campaigns after voters narrowly passed a ballot measure in November…
The annual cost of the program is “the elephant in the room,” said Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.
The program could cost between $2.5 and $3 million over a four-year election cycle, according to early estimates.
Although residents could check-off a portion of their local income taxes to fund the program, Bevan-Dangel said it was unlikely voluntary contributions would be enough to sustain the program.
“There is an admission across the board that check-offs alone are not enough,” she said Monday…
Proponents of the measure, organized under the Fair Elections campaign and including a broad-based coalition including Maryland PIRG, Common Cause and the Democracy Initiative, outspent opponents of the measure by a ratio of more than 10:1, according to state campaign finance records.