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THREAD: Shout-outs are in order in the wake of the ~$1 million in penalties obtained from Right to Rise & the foreign nationals who gave to the #superPAC illegally. Many players did a terrific job. In order: @FEC, @OpenSecretsDC, @theintercept, @CampaignLegal, & FEC again.
1/10
First up: The @FEC’s excellent website, http://fec.gov , provides the raw materials that allow journalists, nonprofits, researchers, and the public to follow the money. In this case, data from Right to Rise’s filings was scooped up by…
2/10http://fec.gov
…the indispensable @OpenSecretsDC, otherwise known as The Center for Responsive Politics, which slices and dices @FEC data and adds tremendous value.
Here’s CRP exec director @skrmhlz, speaking at the FEC, explaining how they do what they do:
3/10https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mANlH7Ioozw&t=54m51s …
A @nytimes op-ed I wrote in March 2016 (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/opinion/taking-n-citizens-united.html …) about #CitizensUnited caught the eye of Jon @Schwarz of @theintercept, who wrote it up and then got curious about how he might track down foreign dollars flowing into US elections.
https://theintercept.com/2016/03/31/foreign-money-is-flowing-into-u-s-elections-alitos-lying-lips-notwithstanding/ …
4/10
Schwarz roped in investigative-reporting colleague Lee Fang (@lhfang).
They searched @OpenSecretsDC’s data and found the suspicious contributions to Right to Rise.
5/10https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/corporate-contributions …
Schwarz & Fang worked the story for months, and wrote up what they found in a blockbuster series in August 2016.
Here’s part 1: “The #CitizensUnited Playbook: How a Top GOP Lawyer Guided a Chinese-Owned Company Into U.S. Presidential Politics”
6/10https://theintercept.com/2016/08/03/gop-lawyer-chinese-owned-company-us-presidential-politics/ …
@theintercept’s story was, in turn, picked up by @CampaignLegal, which filed a complaint with @FEC a week later.
7/10
http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/sites/default/files/APIC%20Right%20to%20Rise%20complaint%208_10_16.pdf …pic.twitter.com/cm8PWEOuMd
At this point, the @FEC’s Office of General Counsel took over. They built the case, secured the critical go-ahead votes from the Commission, and negotiated the largest penalties in one matter in the post-#CitizensUnited era.
8/10
At every step along the way, the system worked. @FEC did its disclosure job, the press did its reporting job, & the #campaignfinance community did its watchdog job, enabling the hardworking professionals in FEC’s Office of General Counsel to bring the case home. Well done.
9/10
This sort of effort in this sort of matter is vital, because, as I’ve said: Foreign interference in our elections is a direct attack on our democracy. I am deadly serious when it comes to tracking down and punishing foreign spending in our elections. 10/F
Any way to see how the money was spent by the Jeb folks?
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