See also [2020-06-30]: With FEC again defanged, Trump's latest nominee likely to face opposition.
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The Federal Election Commission is once again lacking the four commissioners it needs to enforce campaign finance laws and close loopholes as Election Day nears.
... Trump's FEC nominee to replace Hunter will likely draw even stronger opposition. The White House announced last week Trump will nominate Allen Dickerson, legal director at the Institute for Free Speech, to be the FEC's fourth commissioner.
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Allen Dickerson cheered the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision that unleashed nearly $1 billion in dark money into federal elections over the last decade, arguing that the ruling greatly expanded Americans' freedom to speak on political issues. Since then, Dickerson has led the Institute for Free Speech's legal challenges against laws and regulations that would force politically active nonprofits to disclose their donors.
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Formerly the Center for Competitive Politics, the Institute for Free Speech opposed the DISCLOSE Act, Democrats' attempt to crack down on dark money spending following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling. Dickerson argued that the bill chilled free speech rights of nonprofits to advocate on political issues. Senate Republicans successfully blocked the legislation.
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Allan Dickerson supported reversing a district court decision that unsuccessfully attempted to reveal donors to dark money groups. Dickerson led a lawsuit against California over its law that required nonprofits to disclose names of donors to the state. He also supported a lawsuit that challenged the legality of Alaska's relatively low contribution limits.
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In the post-Citizens United era, the FEC's Republican commissioners have echoed Dickerson in their arguments to justify not cracking down on undisclosed election spending by nonprofits that are not supposed to focus on politics. Republican commissioners dismissed a complaint against a nonprofit that spent nearly its entire budget on political ads during the 2014 North Carolina Senate election.
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[Wikipedia] Citizens United v. FEC
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See also: Synopsis of Dark Money Campaign Financing and U.S. Constitution Article V Reform
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 [Supreme Court of the U.S., decided 2010-01-21], was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning campaign finance. The Court held that the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political communications by corporations, including nonprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations.
The case arose after Citizens United, a conservative non-profit organization, sought to air and advertise a film critical of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton shortly before the 2008 Democratic primary elections. This would have been a violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which prohibited any corporation or labor union from making an "electioneering communication" within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of an election, or making any expenditure advocating the election or defeat of a candidate at any time.
In a majority opinion joined by four other justices, Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy held that the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act's prohibition of all independent expenditures by corporations and unions violated the First Amendment's protection of free speech. The Court overturned Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990), which had allowed different restrictions on speech-related spending based on corporate identity, as well as a portion of McConnell v. FEC (2003) that had restricted corporate spending on electioneering communications.
The ruling effectively freed labor unions and corporations to spend money on electioneering communications and to directly advocate for the election or defeat of candidates. In his dissenting opinion, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the Court's ruling represented "a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self government."
The decision remains highly controversial, generating much public discussion and receiving strong support and opposition from various groups. Senator Mitch McConnell commended the decision, arguing that it represented "an important step in the direction of restoring the First Amendment rights". By contrast, President Barack Obama stated that the decision "gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington".
The ruling had a major impact on campaign finance, allowing unlimited election spending by corporations and labor unions and fueling the rise of Super PACs. Later rulings by the Roberts Court, including McCutcheon v. FEC (2014), would strike down other campaign finance restrictions. Studies show that the Citizens United ruling boosted the electoral success of Republican candidates.
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[Image source. Click image to open in new window.]
Citizens United is a conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization in the United States founded in 1988. In 2010 the organization won a U.S. Supreme Court case known as Citizens United v. FEC, which struck down as unconstitutional a federal law prohibiting corporations and unions from making expenditures in connection with federal elections. The organization's current president and chairman is David Bossie.
Overview
Citizens United's stated mission is to restore the United States government to "citizens' control, through a combination of education, advocacy, and grass-roots organization" seeking to "reassert the traditional American values of limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security." Citizens United is a conservative political advocacy group organized under Section 501(c)4 of the federal tax code, meaning that donations are not tax deductible. To fulfill this mission, Citizens United produces television commercials, web advertisements, and documentary films. CU films have won film festival awards, including Perfect Valor (Best Documentary at the GI Film Festival) and Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny (Remi Award at Houston Worldfest International Festival).
David Bossie has been its president since 2000. In 2016 he took a leave of absence to be deputy campaign manager of Donald Trump's campaign for President of the United States. Its offices are on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, D.C.
History
The Political Action Committee (PAC) Citizens United was founded in 1988 by Floyd Brown, a longtime Washington political consultant. The group promotes free enterprise, socially conservative causes and candidates who advance their mission.
Positions and advocacy
Citizens United is known for its support of conservatives in politics. The group produced a television advertisement that reveals several legislative actions taken by John McCain, which aired on Fox News Channel. On October 2, 2006, in reaction to revelations of a cover-up of inappropriate communications between Republican Congressman Mark Foley and United States House of Representatives Page, Citizens United president David Bossie called on Dennis Hastert to resign over his role in covering up the scandal.
Citizens United sued New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over Schneiderman's demand that it disclose all its donors. Citizens United lost the case.
Citizens United campaigned against Michael Moore's 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11, advocating for government limits on how much advertising the film received. It also made advertisements attacking the film, and when the Federal Election Commission held that Moore's film was not a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act, produced its own rebuttal film called Celsius 41.11. However, the FEC held that paying to air Celsius 41.11 would constitute an illegal corporate campaign expenditure.
In 2008, Citizens United produced a documentary film highly critical of Hillary Clinton called "Hillary: The Movie." Fearing prosecution from the FEC, the organization sought a declaratory judgment in federal court to assure their right to show the movie, leading ultimately to the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. It previously produced and screened advertisements attacking other Democrats, including Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Al Gore. In the 1988 US presidential election, Citizens United ran an ad that used Willie Horton to attack Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. The ad was described as racist by the progressive magazine Mother Jones.
The group has produced a film criticizing the United Nations.
Citizens United and the Trump Administration
In 2016 the Donald Trump presidential campaign enlisted Citizens United president David Bossie as deputy campaign manager. During the campaign, Bossie made regular television appearances on behalf of the Trump campaign. Bossie is a close friend and longtime acquaintance of Trump administration officials Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, having introduced Bannon to Trump in 2011.
Citizens United Productions
Citizens United Productions, headed by president David Bossie, has released 25 feature-length documentaries. The following is a list of films produced by Citizens United Productions.
- ACLU: At War with America
- America at Risk
- Battle for America
- Blocking 'The Path to 9/11'
- Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration
- Broken Promises: The UN at 60
- Celsius 41.11
- A City Upon a Hill
- Fast Terry -- documentary on Terry McAuliffe's controversial business deals
- Fire From the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman
- Generation Zero
- The Gift of Life
- Hillary: The Movie
- The Hope and the Change -- release date September 2012
- HYPE: The Obama Effect
- Nine Days that Changed the World -- hosted by Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista Gingrich
- Occupy Unmasked
- Perfect Valor
- Rediscovering God in America
- Rediscovering God in America II: Our Heritage
- Rocky Mountain Heist
- Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny
- We Have the Power: Making America Energy Independent
- Torchbearer