The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision has opened the door to foreign money in U.S. elections.

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In January 2010, just days after the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United, President Obama stood before Congress to deliver his State of the Union address. Six justices sat berobed in a front row. “With all due deference to separation of powers,” he scolded, the decision “will open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections.”

As lawmakers applauded, Justice Samuel Alito angrily shook his head. Able lip readers noted he was saying, “Not true!”

Well, it’s been 12 years. A recent fine levied by the Federal Election Commission suggests that Obama was right — and that court rulings and administrative paralysis have made our elections ever more vulnerable.

Canadian steel tycoon Barry Zekelman has agreed to pay $975,000 to the FEC after steering corporate donations to a pro-Trump super PAC, in violation of a federal prohibition on foreign influence in U.S. elections.

Super PACs can receive unlimited funds, including from corporations, if the group’s spending is done “independently” of the candidate it supports. This would have been illegal before Citizens United.

Typically Zekelman’s largesse would have gone unnoticed and unpunished. But he was invited to dine with the president at Trump Hotel in thanks for his gift, and while there he inveigled for eight minutes, urging Trump to tighten tariffs against his competitors. Other tablemates included two shady businessmen working with Rudy Giuliani. The conversation was recorded (oops!) and released as part of the impeachment proceedings in 2019. (That’s Trump’s first impeachment — the one where he tried to extort Vladimir Zelensky into smearing Joe Biden in exchange for military aid against Russia. The insurrection was the second impeachment.)

When the New York Times contacted the Canadian businessman about the recording, he admitted he participated in the decision to donate to the super PAC. Federal law clearly forbids foreign nationals from engaging in such conversations.

All of which led to the recent fine. The billionaire will barely notice the dent in his bank account, of course. Apparently the FEC will also let him ask the super PAC to return the money he gave.

Aptly, the meal took place at the Trump Hotel, jammed as it was with fixers, lobbyists, and fundraisers. That’s the world the Supreme Court made. Campaign spending essentially has been deregulated. The law is in tatters. The Federal Election Commission is weak, deadlocked, and rarely able to act.

The Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act would address some of this, by ending dark money in elections and requiring full disclosure of campaign spending. It passed the House and had a Senate majority — as did an earlier bill just focused on campaign finance — but was killed by a Republican filibuster, this time aided, as we know all too well, by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).

The recent bill was best known for its protection of voting rights. That’s understandable, as the Big Lie of a “stolen” 2020 presidential election continues to sweep the states, threaten voters of color, and undermine integrity. It can be easy to forget how new, and how destructive, the current world of campaign cash can be as well.

Only occasionally do we learn about the deals cut, the tax loopholes claimed, and the favors traded. Polls show voters are savvy and angry. Corruption remains a sleeper issue in American politics. The campaign reform provisions were among the most popular in the recent bills, popular with Republicans and Democrats alike.

A previous Republican president identified the stakes. At an earlier moment of corruption and reform, President Theodore Roosevelt vowed, “Sooner or later, unless there is a readjustment, there will come a riotous, wicked, murderous day of atonement.” Now, that’s a tweet for the ages.





Democracy

Public Campaign Finance Success Stories

And speaking of Teddy Roosevelt, it was he who first proposed one of the most important types of election reform: public financing of campaigns. The modern version would provide matching funds or vouchers to bolster the power of small contributions. They are pro-free speech while being anti-corruption. These programs present a powerful alternative to a system dominated by big spenders. Hazel Millard and Mariana Paez walk through lessons learned from programs everywhere from Arizona to Maine. “The policy stands as one of the best tools we have for combatting big money in politics and amplifying the voices of everyday Americans,” they write. Read more

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Small Races, Big Money

This year’s local elections in and around Green Bay, Wisconsin, show how the election denialism and super PAC money are distorting our democracy. These nonpartisan elections were flooded with outside spending from national super PACs, which warned of existential threats to our democracy, sometimes over the complaints of the candidates themselves. “Large expenditures in Green Bay are a sign that local elections everywhere could be at risk from attacks harmful to voters’ trust in our democracy,” Ian Vandewalker writes. Read more

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Constitution

The Fourth Amendment in the 21st Century

The Fourth Amendment, which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” is as important as it is ambiguous on how to apply it. In an age where some of our most personal information lives on devices or the cloud, can the legal interpretation of this cornerstone of the Bill of Rights catch up to technology as we know it? In a wide-ranging interview with UC Berkeley law professor and Fourth Amendment scholar Orin Kerr, Andrew Cohen delves into the history of how Congress and the courts have interpreted this crucial amendment and how privacy rights can still be effectively protected. Read more

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Lifting the Curtain at Social Media Companies

Carefully controlling information released to the public and preventing transparency is a key way social media companies avoid scrutiny for the harm caused on their platforms, from excess surveillance to the spread of disinformation. New bipartisan legislation proposed in the Senate, the Platform and Transparency Accountability Act, would provide some relief by requiring certain platform data to be reported to the Federal Trade Commission and approved by independent researchers. Mekela Panditharatne discusses the state of the legislation and its potential ramifications for transparency and accountability. Read more

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Coming Up

NOTE ON TONIGHT'S EVENT: In light of today’s horrific subway shooting and ongoing police investigation in Brooklyn, we are postponing this evening’s Universal Voting event with E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport. Our moderator, Alexa Avilés, is a New York City council member for District 38 who lives in and represents Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood. Our thoughts are with Ms. Aviles and her constituents.



We hope you can join us for the rescheduled event — we will provide more updates soon.



VIRTUAL EVENT: Drawing the Line: How Redistricting Impacts Latino Communities

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Hispanic Federation and the Brennan Center are co-hosting a series of discussions providing updates on the redistricting process in North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Georgia. Panelists are looking at the impact that the new maps will have on the Latino community, upcoming elections, and representation at all levels. You can watch the past events from North Carolina

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, Florida

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and Texas

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online. RSVP today

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Georgia: Thursday, April 14, 11 a.m. ET

Speakers: Gigi Pedraza, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Latino Community Fund Georgia // Yurij Rudensky, Senior Counsel, Democracy, Brennan Center // Jackie Colón, Southeast Regional Director, NALEO Educational Fund // Jerry Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer, GALEO // Genny Castillo, Regional Engagement Director, Southern Economic Advancement Project // Moderator: Frankie Miranda, President & CEO, Hispanic Federation

Want to keep up with Brennan Center Live events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.

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News

Madiba Dennie on Justice Jackson and the importance of judicial diversity // NEWSONE

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Elizabeth Howard on the Brennan Center’s election officials survey // WOSU NEWS

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Michael Li on state courts’ expanded role in redistricting // NEW YORK TIMES

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Wendy Weiser on the problems of hand counting ballots // WASHINGTON POST

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Tom Wolf on the “meritless” independent state legislature doctrine // RAW STORY

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Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at [email protected]

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