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

OpenSecrets: FEC hears testimony on use of campaign funds to cover salaries, health care

By Taylor Giorno and Harshawn Ratanpal

.....Not all panelists supported expanding regulations on candidate salaries. Institute for Free Speech Chair Brad Smith, a former FEC commissioner from 2000 to 2005, called his support to expand candidate salary regulation in 2002 “a mistake.” Smith said the commission does not have the legal authority to rule campaign contributions can be converted into personal funds and cautioned against opening the door to corruption as a consequence of “feel-good rule-making.” 

“Why is it an explicit violation of law to pay one’s rent with campaign funds but acceptable to do so if it was funded under a salary?” FEC Commissioner Allen Dickerson asked, pointing out candidates are expressly prohibited from using campaign funds to pay for mortgages, tuition, clothing and other personal expenses. He told OpenSecrets after the hearing he had not made a decision on the legal or procedural matter, and he encouraged the public to submit additional comments.

CNN: Another political hush-money case offers clues to a possible Donald Trump defense

By Fredreka Schouten

.....Conservative legal commentators long have maintained that it was a stretch to have Cohen plead guilty to a crime in the payoff scheme in the first place.

“At the very least, the law is murky about whether paying hush money to a mistress is a ‘campaign expense’ or a personal expense,” Brad Smith, a former Republican member of the Federal Election Commission, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed at the time.

Wall Street Journal: Dominion’s Weak Case Against Fox

By William P. Barr

.....Conservatives shouldn’t try to weaken the actual-malice standard. For the foreseeable future, we will likely be on the wrong side of the culture-setting consensus. Even when accurate, our views are apt to be treated as “misinformation,” as the reaction to the Hunter Biden laptop story aptly demonstrates. There are precious few conservative news outlets as it is. Why make them more vulnerable to the multitude of left-wing plaintiffs’ lawyers?

People United for Privacy: Virginia Holds Firm on Personal Privacy

.....Virginia continues to be a hotbed of activity for defenders of free speech and personal privacy. After taking significant strides to improve its laws last year through the passage of the Personal Privacy Protection Act, the 2023 legislative session saw lawmakers once again toy with the idea of massively expanding regulations for political speech by nonprofit advocacy groups and the business community. Fortunately, these proposals did not become law, and the General Assembly adjourned for the year on February 25.

Washington Free Beacon: Pennsylvania Dem Threatens To Withhold Funding From University of Pittsburgh Over Conservative Speakers

By Aaron Sibarium

.....A Pennsylvania lawmaker on Tuesday issued what free speech advocates are calling a veiled threat to withhold funding from the University of Pittsburgh over the school's decision to allow several conservative speakers on campus.

ACLU: How Officials in Georgia are Suppressing Political Protest as ‘Domestic Terrorism’

By Sarah Taitz and Shaiba Rather

.....Over the past few months, 42 activists have been charged with “domestic terrorism” under Georgia state law. Their acts of “terrorism”? Alleged property damage and trespassing while protesting. These prosecutions exemplify a highly problematic trend of the government — both state and federal — using domestic terrorism powers to punish dissent.

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