The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 16, 2025

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

Our recent reporting explored the massive contributions to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, reportedly reaching $170 Million dollars.  What are the rules as to how that money is spent?  The short answer is, there aren’t any.

The Federal Election Commissions allows private donations to support inaugural activities.  This year, that’s a parade, a rally, two luncheons, a tea, three dinners, three inaugural balls, and fireworks at Trump’s Sterling golf club.  The FEC requires reporting of donations over $200 dollars, but sets no limits or dictates how it’s used. Of the known inaugural donors, crypto platform Ripple has contributed the most, at $5 Million dollars. 

Taxpayers foot some of the bill, including security for the inauguration itself.  Let’s say that the Trump inauguration has 12 events, and they cost an astronomical $2 million dollars each – a whopping $24 Million dollars.  That leaves $146 Million left.  When the inauguration is over, will we know how the leftover money will be used? 

We won’t.  While a Trump campaign source told the New York Times some would be used for Trump’s Presidential library, there are no rules dictating how that money is used.  

The Inaugural Fund Integrity Act is expected to be re-introduced in Congress in January, which would set a limit of $50,000, require immediate disclosure of contributions over $1000, and ban corporate and SuperPAC donations.   But the legislation STILL doesn’t require disclosure of how that extra money gets spent.   

Find more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Yahoo Finance – (2017) Here’s how much an inauguration costs, and who pays for it

Congressional Research Service – (2013) The Presidential Inauguration: Basic Facts and
Information
Federal Election Commission – Funding inaugural committee activities
CBS News –  (2014) How much do state dinners cost? They ain’t cheap
Spectrum News – Trump’s second inauguration celebration will last four days. Here’s the schedule
National Archives – Federal Code § 104.21 Reporting by inaugural committees.
Public Citizen – Billionaires, Millionaires and Lobbyists Cozy Up to Trump by Flooding the Inauguration with Record-Breaking Donations
Public Citizen – Contribution Tracker: Corporations and Billionaires Funnel Millions Into Trump Inauguration Committee
U.S. Congress – H.R.6312 – Inaugural Fund Integrity Act

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause, Public Citizen,  C.R.E.W., Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #TrumpInauguration #Inauguration #PoliticalCorruption #EndCitizensUnited

The post What are the Rules as to How Contributions to Inaugural Committee Funds Are Spent?  There Aren’t Any. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 18, 2023

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

The feckless Federal Election Commission may become even less effective.  A proposed rules change would task the usually deadlocked FEC commissioners with authorizing all campaign finance investigations, likely bringing meaningful accountability to a standstill.

The Intercept reports that a proposal by FEC Commissioner Allan Dickerson would require FEC commissioners to authorize all proposed investigations from its Office of General Counsel.  Currently, cases receive a preliminary investigation by the professional staff, then recommendations are brought to the commission to authorize further action.

The change would effectively shut down any investigations threatening partisan power.  The FEC has six commissioners, three Democrats and three Republicans, and routinely deadlocks on violations.  Among its notorious non-decisions was deadlocking on Trump hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels – a clear violation of federal campaign finance laws.  Donald Trump prevailed in 43 campaign finance cases due to partisan deadlocks at the FEC, according to the Daily Beast.

Early in 2023, the Campaign Legal Center asked the FEC to investigate NY Congressman George Santos, saying in a statement: “As the agency responsible for enforcing America’s campaign finance laws, the FEC owes it to the public to find out the truth about how George Santos raised and spent the money he used to run for public office, and to ensure accountability for Santos’s illegal conduct.” UNQUOTE  This FEC rule change would likely ensure such an investigation never takes place.  

We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Federal Election Commissioner Alan Dickerson – Investigations Conducted by the Office of General Counsel
The Intercept – A TRUMP APPOINTEE IS TRYING TO GUT THE FEC’S ABILITY TO INVESTIGATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE CRIMES
The Daily Beast – How the Hell Is Trump 43-0 vs. Campaign Finance Watchdogs?

Federal Election Commission – Commission Meetings
Federal Election Commission – Contact phone numbers and emails
Campaign Legal Center – CLC Files FEC Complaint Against Rep. George Santos for Violating Campaign Finance Laws
Campaign Legal Center – Why the FEC Is Ineffective

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Campaign Legal Center

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE! 
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!
#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FixtheFEC #FederalElectionsCommission #CampaignFinanceReform

The post Proposed Rule Change Could Make the Feckless Federal Election Commission Even Less Effective appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for January 20, 2023

It’s the 13th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United Decision.  What is Citizens United and Why Should You Care?

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Brennan Center for Justice – Citizens United Explained
Open Secrets  – Everything you need to know about Citizens United
Federal Elections Commission – Citizens United v. FEC
Campaign Legal Center – How Does the Citizens United Decision Still Affect Us in 2022?

Groups Taking Action:

American Promise, End Citizens United, Common Cause, Issue One, Declaration for American Democracy

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

January 21st is the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, one of the most consequential decisions about how elections are funded.  What is it, and why should YOU care about it?

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court decided for a conservative group called Citizens United which challenged the Federal Election Campaign Act.  These rules prevented corporations and unions from “electioneering communications,” like running TV ads for or against a Presidential candidate, or in this case, a documentary.   

The court’s opinion held that corporations could not be prevented from spending their funds in elections because it would interfere with their right to free speech.   This allowed corporations to vastly increase spending, an estimated $16.7 Billion dollars in 2022 midterm. Most is spent on the endless positive and negative TV ads you see during a campaign, using SuperPACs to obscure their identities.  

While federal rules say this spending is not supposed to be coordinated with the candidate’s campaign, political consultants have concocted ways of flouting those regulations, usually without sanction from the FEC.

Democracy advocates say Citizens United gave megaphones to corporations which can shout speech over ordinary citizens, increasing influence by special interests over elected officials.  Those officials then make decisions which are contrary to the best interests of the citizens they are supposed to serve.

We have articles and groups taking action, at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post It’s the 13th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United Decision. What is Citizens United and Why Should You Care? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 15, 2022

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

 Journalist Tiffany Fong – Interview with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (Campaign donation discussions at 13 minutes)
CNBC – Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried hit with campaign finance complaint over GOP ‘dark’ money
Forbes – Sam Bankman-Fried says he donated just as many millions to Republicans as Democrats, but didn’t publicize it because reporters would ‘freak the f–k out’
The Hill – FTX founder Bankman-Fried’s campaign finance charges ‘just the tip of the iceberg

OpenSecrets.org – Largest Campaign Donors

Groups Taking Action:
Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, Open Democracy
 

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Recent revelations from a disgraced cryptocurrency CEO gives us a glimpse of just how much campaign money flows into our election system – both what gets reported, and what’s called “dark money.”  And both the major parties refuse to stop the torrent.

In an interview with journalist Tiffany Fong in November, FTX crypto exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, now in custody in the Bahamas, admitted that he had not only given $40 million to Democrats and Democratic PACs to fund primary races, but he said he also gave an equal amount of “dark money” to Republican candidates.   It’s not known which dark money organizations, but typically 501c3 & 501c4 nonprofits, Limited Liability Corporations and other instruments are used to shield donor identities. 

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, has since filed a campaign finance reform complaint with the Federal Elections Commission. CREW suggested that Bankman-Fried contributed as much as $37 Million more to campaigns than was reported to the FEC, and says that while the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allows independent expenditures to groups, it doesn’t not allow those groups to “pass through” donations directly to candidates. 

Several politicians, including Arizona U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, have reportedly returned money given to them by Bankman-Fried.  

We have links to the campaign funding transparency website OpenSecrets, and more details on the allegations at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Revelations from Crypto CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Show How Reported – And Unreported -Money Funds Our Candidates appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

Listen!

Today’s Links:   

Articles
Campaign Legal Center – CLC Sues FEC over Dismissal of Complaint Alleging Violations by Trump Campaign
Business Insider  –  Trump’s campaign committee dodges penalty as federal watchdog deadlocks on complaint it laundered hundreds of millions of dollars
Associated Press – FEC deadlocks, won’t punish Trump over questionable 2020 campaign spending
Campaign Legal Center
Organizations Taking Action
Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen

Script

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

We reported back in May on the Federal Elections Commission deadlock over alleged secret payments benefitting Trump family members.   The complaint alleges Trump family members and insiders financially benefited from sweetheart contracts paid out by a political action committee supporting President Trump’s re-election campaign.  The Campaign Legal Center has now filed a lawsuit contesting that decision.   

Based on 2020 reporting by the Business Insider,  the Make America Great Again PAC allegedly misreported the payees of secret payments made to American Made Media Consultants, LLC, set up by Jared Kushner.  The LLC had Vice President Pence, Lara Trump, and Kushner as board members, among others.   American Made Media Consultants was reported to have been paid $617 million dollars from the PAC, and some of that money was used to compensate Trump campaign staffers and the partners of his adult children, violating campaign transparency rules.   Parscale Strategy, LLC, headed by Brad Parscale, former Trump campaign manager, was also accused of having received misreported payments.    Despite significant evidence, the FEC’s three Republicans and three Democrats deadlocked on whether further investigation was warranted.

The Campaign Legal Center lawsuit contests that decision, pointing out that the commissioners’ reasonings for rejecting the complaint don’t stand up to legal scrutiny.  They ask that the court invalidate the FEC’s dismissal, and that the alleged violations be investigated.   Stay tuned for more on this story.

We have links to articles and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  Granny D said “Democracy is not something we have, it’s something we DO.” 

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post American Democracy Minute for July 14, 2022: Lawsuit Filed Against FEC for Dismissing Credible Complaint on Secret Payments to Trump Family & Insiders appeared first on American Democracy Minute.