This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected].  

Law Week Colorado: 10th Circuit Returns for Oral Arguments on Pandemic Insurance Coverage, CO Campaign Contribution Caps and More

By Clara Geoghegan

.....10th Circuit Judges Robert Bacharach, Allison Eid and Veronica Rossman on Nov. 17 will hear an appeal from two Colorado political candidates and a resident who say the state’s political contribution caps are unconstitutional. 

U.S. District Court Judge John Kane in March declined a request to block the enforcement of Article 28 writing that the“record is inadequate to support plaintiffs’ contention that they are entitled to the extraordinary and disfavored relief they seek.” 

Appealing to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, the group of plaintiffs represented by conservative organizations Advance Colorado and Institute for Free Speech, say the lower court incorrectly denied their motion for a preliminary injunction...

By Bradley A. Smith and David Keating

.....While the latest Federal Election Commission “Draft Final Rule and Explanation and Justification for Internet Communications Disclaimers” is a big improvement over earlier FEC drafts, we believe it is not ready to become final.

SCOTUSblog: Court allows Jan. 6 committee to obtain phone records of Arizona GOP chair

.....The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for a cellphone provider to turn over call records for Dr. Kelli Ward, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, to the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Ward had asked the justices to block a subpoena addressed to T-Mobile, arguing that there “could hardly be a starker example of seeking to punish people for having ties to political views regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election that many Americans regard as ‘dissident.’” But the committee countered that Ward had “aided a coup attempt,” and on Monday the justices turned down Ward’s request.

Wall Street Journal: The FBI and Disinformation

.....U.S. citizens will not continue to enjoy foundational constitutional liberties if the FBI is permitted to abuse its powers as it did in targeting the 2016 Trump campaign and may have done in assisting the 2020 Biden campaign. A responsible defense of our First Amendment freedoms requires a thorough inquiry to determine to what extent the FBI and other federal agencies lean on social media companies to suppress government-designated “disinformation.”

Wall Street Journal: Did Trump Unleash the IRS on Comey and McCabe?

.....[T]here’s one way the agency can regain trust that should appeal to President Biden and his bureaucrats: Prove or disprove the allegation that President Trump influenced audits of James Comey and Andrew McCabe.

Wall Street Journal: The New Woke Discrimination Demands a New Law

By Vivek Ramaswamy and Jed Rubenfeld

.....Republican politicians often ask what they can do in office to combat “wokeness.” The best approach is to amend state and federal civil-rights laws to protect employees from discrimination on the basis of political beliefs. Corporate viewpoint discrimination is unfair and widespread, a driver of polarization, and a direct consequence of the way existing civil-rights laws have been interpreted—a legal mistake that demands a legal solution.

Politico: Two anonymous $425 million donations give dark money conservative group a massive haul

.....One of the biggest conservative dark money organizations in the nation was boosted last year by two separate anonymous gifts, each totaling more than $425 million dollars.

OpenSecrets: Election objectors in Congress received more than $61 million from corporate PACs and industry trade groups in the 2022 cycle

By Anna Massoglia and Keith Newell

.....Corporate PACs and industry trade groups poured more than $61 million into the leadership PACs and campaigns of election objectors during the 2022 election cycle, a new OpenSecrets analysis found…

Roll Call: New election, same result: Most incumbents win 2022 rematches

By Laura Weiss and Ariel Cohen

.....House incumbents facing tough rematches with their 2020 opponents almost all prevailed again in this year’s midterms, with only one falling to a repeat challenger after redistricting made for a more challenging race.

NewsNation: Trump’s proposed ‘National Greatness Agenda’ policies

By Caitlyn Shelton

.....Trump . . . announced plans to change legislation regarding campaign funding. He said he will ask for a permanent ban on taxpayer funding of campaigns and a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and cabinet members.

New Yorker: A Rare Win in the Fight Against Dark Money

.....Last week’s midterm elections showed that the country remains deeply divided along partisan lines, but there was one exception that has been largely overlooked. Voters from both parties in all fifteen counties of the polarized state of Arizona came together and overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure that will require large anonymous “dark money” political donors to reveal their identities.

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