Is it Illegal "Pay-to-Play" for a Government Contractor or National Bank to Contribute to a Super PAC?

A new complaint was filed with the Federal Election Commission yesterday alleging that Chevron USA violated campaign finance laws and corollary “federal pay-to-play” laws by contributing $2.5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC tied by press reporting and former staffers to House Speaker Boehner. While the FEC complaint was filed by organizations likely more interested in “poking the bear” because of Chevron’s environmental footprint than its politics (Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and Oil Change International, hereinafter referred to as “The Usual Suspects”), the complaint has facial merit and needs to be on the radar screen of government contractors, national banks, and foreign nationals everywhere.

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The White House is Not Giving Up on Federal Contractor Pay-to-Play

By Stefan C. Passantino

The White House is very serious about mandating contribution and issue advocacy disclosure obligations on federal contractors.

We have reported several times (most recently here) on the various tell-tale signs, tea leaves and trial balloons that would lead one to believe that the White House is very serious about mandating disclosure by executive order. Much of the drama stemmed from a draft Executive Order (discussed here) that was floated last April and didn’t appear to get very far.

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