July 23, 2024

Ed. note: The Media Update will return Friday, July 26.

In the News

NewsNation (Dan Abrams Live): What happens to Biden’s campaign funds?

.....Biden’s campaign recently reported just over $91 million on hand, but allied Democratic campaign committees brought the total at his disposal to more than $240 million. Now that Biden is out, however, campaign finance experts have said that Harris could tap into some of that cash without too many hurdles — but it would be tougher for any other Democratic nominee to do the same. Former FEC Chair Bradley Smith joins "Dan Abrams Live" to discuss any further legal challenges for the Democrats.

Fox Business ("The Claman Countdown"): Former FEC chairman discusses if Kamala Harris can access Biden campaign funds

.....Former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith unpacks Vice President Kamala Harris' donor funds on 'The Claman Countdown.'

The Voting Booth: Episode 24 (AEI): Reviewing the Supreme Court’s Decisions in the NetChoice Cases and Murthy v. Missouri (with Former FEC Commissioner Brad Smith)

.....Co-hosts John Fortier and Don Palmer are joined by Bradley A. Smith, Chairman and Founder of the Institute for Free Speech and former Federal Election Commission Commissioner. 

New from the Institute for Free Speech

Institute for Free Speech Urges Third Circuit to Strike Down Compelled Speech Provisions of Drug Price Program

.....The Institute for Free Speech has filed an amicus brief in Bristol Myers Squibb Company v. Becerra, et al. and Janssen Pharmaceutical v. Becerra, et al., urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to strike down provisions of the “Drug Price Negotiation Program” that compel pharmaceutical companies to endorse messages mandated by the federal government.

“The government cannot compel the companies or anyone else to speak its message, let alone a false one: that they ‘agreed’ to the new ‘maximum fair price,’ and accordingly, that they have overcharged their customers for years,” explains the brief.

Free Speech Protections Strengthened as Pennsylvania Enacts Robust New Anti-SLAPP Law

.....In a significant victory for free speech, Pennsylvania has enacted a strong new anti-SLAPP law, bolstering protections for all residents of the commonwealth. House Bill 1466 (HB 1466), signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro on July 17, addresses a crucial weakness in the state’s previous legislation that left Pennsylvanians vulnerable to costly lawsuits for speaking out on matters of public concern. 

The Courts

NBC News: Defamation suit against Fox News by head of dismantled disinformation board tossed by federal judge

By Associated Press

.....A defamation suit against Fox News by a government official who served on a short-lived U.S. government media disinformation board was dismissed Monday by a federal judge.

The lawsuit from Nina Jankowicz alleged that Fox News had defamed her on numerous occasions, leading to waves of online attacks and threats of violence after the formation of the Disinformation Governance Board, where she served as a director...

In rejecting Jankowicz’s claims, the judge said that 36 of the 37 statements made on Fox News programs were about the disinformation board and not Jankowicz. The judge ruled that the remaining statement — which was also a reference to the board and not Jankowicz, despite showing an image of her as it was said — was not disinformation because it was a factual statement that matched the wording in the board’s own charter describing its purpose.

IRS

The Federalist: Before Going After Trump, Jack Smith Tried To Take Down The Tea Party

By Brian Hawkins

.....While Smith’s legal losses speak for themselves, the potential for abuse at the IRS to carry out lawfare against political opponents remains a major concern for First Amendment rights and personal privacy. Absent the budget riders that must be passed annually, Congress has never solved the underlying policy problems that made the scandal possible. Nor have the political appointees, bureaucrats, and lawmakers who enabled the IRS to run roughshod over our civil liberties been fully — or even mostly — removed from power.

All Americans, regardless of their views, must remain wary of granting government agencies like the IRS power that can ultimately be turned against them. Remember: There is a Jack Smith lurking in every government agency.

Free Expression

New York Times Magazine: How Americans Justify Political Violence

By Charles Homans

.....In a June survey, the political scientists Nathan P. Kalmoe and Lilliana Mason, who have conducted a yearslong study exploring American attitudes toward political violence, found that about 20 percent of respondents believed that political violence, defined very broadly, was at least sometimes justified. (Other researchers, using different methodologies and narrower definitions of violence, have found lower numbers.) A full 60 percent — up from 40 percent four years ago — believed it was at least sometimes justified if people from the other political party committed an act of violence first, figures that varied little between Republicans and Democrats. In their discomfiting 2022 book “Radical American Partisanship,” they argue that “rather than asking whether Americans support political violence, the better question is when.”

The Eternally Radical Idea: Why the ‘words are violence’ argument needs to die

By Greg Lukianoff

.....The notion that speech is violence fails to recognize the essential role of provocative speech and art, the revelation of harsh truth in science, and the reality of messy and distorted psychological states people can genuinely find themselves in. Most importantly, however, it is an affront to the foundation of our democracy and modern civilization. The bright line between action and speech is one of the best things humankind has ever devised, and it has been an engine for peace, progress, artistic achievement, and innovation for centuries. Without that line, representative government — not to mention the freedom to be our authentic selves without fear — is impossible.

UnHerd: Inside the EU’s war on free speech

By Thomas Fazi

.....The latest salvo in the ongoing battle between between Elon Musk and the EU came courtesy of the X owner. He revealed that in the run-up to the European elections, X was offered “an illegal secret deal”: if the platform would agree to secretly censoring online speech, then the European Commission wouldn’t fine it for violations of its new online content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA). X refused to cooperate, but all the other major platforms accepted the deal.

Candidates and Campaigns

New York Times: Can Harris Inherit Biden’s Campaign Cash? Most Likely, Yes.

By Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Shane Goldmacher

.....But Dara Lindenbaum, a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, said that because Ms. Harris was already on the Biden-Harris campaign committee’s registration statement, the money was hers.

“In my view, this is not an open question,” Ms. Lindenbaum, a Democratic appointee, said in an interview. The F.E.C., a six-member, bipartisan board, would most likely field any legal challenges to the campaign’s moves.

“It’s very clear,” Ms. Lindenbaum said, adding, for emphasis: “If Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, she gets to use all the money in the account.” …

Mr. Cooksey, a Republican appointee, said in a brief interview that there were “open questions” about what would come next. “This is an unprecedented event, and it should be not surprising this is not an easy legal question to resolve,” he said.

NPR: Biden dropped his reelection plans. What happens to his campaign war chest?

.....NPR's Michel Martin speaks to Sean Cooksey, chairman of the Federal Election Commission, about what can happen with President Biden's campaign funds, now that he has dropped out.

The States

ABC News: Montana attorney general didn't violate campaign finance rules, elections enforcer says

By Amy Beth Hanson, Associated Press

.....Montana’s elections enforcer said he found no evidence that the state's attorney general violated campaign finance rules by inviting another Republican to run against him so he could raise more money for his reelection campaign.